To determine the efficacy of correction of a malfunctioning peritoneal dialysis catheter with guidewire and stiffener under fluoroscopic guidance. Between November 1994 and March 1997, we performed 15 manipulations in 12 patients in whom a dual-cuff, straight Tenckhoff peritoneal dialysis catheter had been implanted due to chronic renal failure. The causes of catheter malfunctioning were inadequate drainage of the dialysate(n=14) and painful dialysis(n=1). Under fluoroscopic guidance, adhesiolysis and repositioning of the malfunctioning catheter were performed with an Amplatz Super Stiff guidewire and the stiffener from a biliary drainage catheter. The results of procedures were categorized as either immediate or durable success, this latter being defined as adequate catheter function for at least one month after the procedure. Immediate success was achieved in 14 of 15 procedures (93%), and durable success in 7 of 15(47%). The mean duration of catheter function was 157 (range, 30 to 578) days. After manipulation, abdominal pain developed in eight patients and peritonitis in two, but with conservative treatment, these symptoms improved. The correction of a malfunctioning peritoneal dialysis catheter with guidewire and stiffener under fluoroscopic guidance is an effective means of restoring catheter function and may be an effective alternative to surgical reimplantation of the catheter, or hemodialysis.

A hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases is impairment of certain aspects of "brain functionality". Brain functionality is defined as the total input and output of the brain's neural circuits and networks. A given brain degenerative disorder does not deregulate total brain functionality but rather the activity of specific circuits in a given network, affecting their organization and topology, their cell numbers, their cellular functionality, and the interactions between neural circuits. Similarly, our concept of neurodegenerative diseases, which for many years revolved around neural survival or death, has now been extended to emphasize the role of glia. In particular, the role of glial cells in neuro-vascular communication is now known to be central to the effect of insults to the nervous system. In addition, a malfunctioningvascular system likely plays a role in the etiology of certain neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, the symptoms of neurodegenerative or more correctly brain degenerative disease are, to a very large extent, a result of impairment in glial cells that lead to pathological neuro-vascular interactions that, in turn, generate a rather "hostile" environment in which the neurons fail to function. These events lead to systematic neural cell death on a scale that appears to be proportional to the severity of the neurological deficit.

Full Text Available Disorders of intermediary metabolism in the glycolysis cycles and fatty acids oxidation play a major role in heart and brain lesions of vascular origin. Features of the free-radical processes in various forms of vascular disease are presented. Differences within the free-radical processes reflecting the severity of tissue energy deficit are shown in stroke patients with concomitant ischemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation, and diabetes mellitus. Various aspects of the treatment of patients with vascular comorbidity are presented with the focus on correction of intermediary metabolism disorders. Complex energy correcting therapy including beta-oxidation blocker (meldonium is discussed.

Full Text Available The peculiarities of the physical rehabilitation of sports facilities aimed at correcting the condition of vegetative-vascular regulation of children with cerebral palsy at the age of 11-13 years. The results of heart rate variability. The positive effects of the application of physical rehabilitation with elements of sports in children with cerebral palsy, effective changes in the state of vegetative-vascular regulation and improvement of cardiac regulation.

To ensure the safety of the LHC in case of partial or general electrical power failure, all components of the machine protection system are powered by an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS). However, just as for other systems of the machine, the UPS itself is not immune to malfunction. This presentation will evaluate the impact of a UPS malfunction on the operation of the machine protection system and the consequences for the protection of the machine.

Correlation and causality metrics can be applied to blood-oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal time series in order to infer neural synchrony and directions of information flow from fMRI data. However, the BOLD signal reflects both the underlying neural activity and the vascular response, the latter of which is governed by local vasomotor physiology. The presence of potential vascular latency differences thus poses a confound in the detection of neural synchrony as well as inferences about the causality of neural processes. In the present study, we investigate the use of a breath holding (BH) task for characterizing and correcting for voxel-wise neurovascular latency differences across the whole brain. We demonstrate that BH yields reliable measurements of relative timing differences between voxels, and further show that a BH-derived latency correction can impact both functional connectivity maps of the resting-state default-mode network and activation maps of an event-related working memory (WM) task.

Vascular permeability can be visualized by Evans Blue (EB) extravasation and quantified by spectrophotometry after formamide extraction of the tissue. However, formamide extracts show significant turbidity, which may contribute to the total optical density at the wavelength of measurement (e.g., 620 lambda). We developed a simple method for estimating the component of the total optical density of a dyed specimen contributed by turbidity. Our method, which uses a determination of turbidity made at another point of the light spectrum (740 lambda), was more precise than two other EB quantification techniques. We therefore recommend it for individual correction of formamide extracts of spinal cord specimens. The application of this technique to the brain remains to be determined.

Full Text Available A critical point of nasogastric feeding tube placement, potentially resulting in an unsafe and/or non-effective operation of the device, is the monitoring of its proper placement into the stomach. A properly obtained and interpreted radiograph is currently recommended to confirm placement. We reported the case of a 68-year-old demented woman referred for complicated dysphagia. A nasogastric tube was blindly inserted and its placement was confirmed by the radiologist. Enteral nutrition was initiated but the patient began to vomit immediately. After reviewing the radiograph it was understood that a gastric loop in the tube and its tip pointing upwards did not allow a safe infusion of the feeding formula. It is not enough having the radiologist reporting that a nasogastric feeding tube is placed in the stomach; the inclusion in the report of specific warnings on any potential cause of malfunctioning of the device should be considered. The presence of a gastric loop should be taken into account as a cause of potential malfunctioning.

The neutron Radiography Reactor (NRAD) is a training, research, and isotope (TRIGA) reactor located at the INL. The reactor is normally shut down by the insertion of three control rods that drop into the core when power is removed from electromagnets. During a routine shutdown, indicator lights on the console showed that one of the control rods was not inserted. It was initially thought that the indicator lights were in error because of a limit switch that was out of adjustment. Through further testing, it was determined that the control rod did not drop when the scram switch was initially pressed. The control rod anomaly led to a six month shutdown of the reactor and an in depth investigation of the reactor protective system. The investigation looked into: scram switch operation, console modifications, and control rod drive mechanisms. A number of latent issues were discovered and corrected during the investigation. The cause of the control rod malfunction was found to be a buildup of corrosion in the control rod drive mechanism. The investigation resulted in modifications to equipment, changes to both operation and maintenance procedures, and additional training. No reoccurrences of the problem have been observed since corrective actions were implemented.

Critical steps in coronary vascular formation include the epithelial-mesenchyme transition (EMT) that epicardial cells undergo to become sub-epicardial; the invasion of the myocardium; and the differentiation of coronary lineages. However, the factors controlling these processes are not completely understood. Epicardial and coronary vascular precursors migrate to the avascular heart tube during embryogenesis via the proepicardium (PE). Here, we show that in the quail embryo fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR)-1 is expressed in a spatially and temporally restricted manner in the PE and epicardium-derived cells, including vascular endothelial precursors, and is up-regulated in epicardial cells after EMT. We used replication-defective retroviral vectors to over-express or knock-down FGFR-1 in the PE. FGFR-1 over-expression resulted in increased epicardial EMT. Knock-down of FGFR-1, however, did not inhibit epicardial EMT but greatly compromised the ability of PE progeny to invade the myocardium. The latter could, however, contribute to endothelia and smooth muscle of sub-epicardial vessels. Correct FGFR-1 levels were also important for correct coronary lineage differentiation with, at E12, an increase in the proportion of endothelial cells amongst FGFR-1 over-expressing PE progeny and a decrease in the proportion of smooth muscle cells in antisense FGFR-1 virus-infected PE progeny. Finally, in a heart explant system, constitutive activation of FGFR-1 signaling in epicardial cells resulted in increased delamination from the epicardium, invasion of the sub-epicardium, and invasion of the myocardium. These data reveal novel roles for FGFR-1 signaling in epicardial biology and coronary vascular lineage differentiation, and point to potential new therapeutic avenues.

Full Text Available Background Malfunctions of totally implantable central venous ports (TICVPs have become a problem, as the usage of TICVPs has increased enormously. Objectives This study evaluated factors related with catheter malfunctions of TICVPs. Patients and Methods Between January 2010 and June 2012, 1,740 TICVPs in 1,740 patients (874 men and 866 women with an average age of 57.7 ± 12.8 years (range: 15 - 91 years were implanted by an interventional radiology team at our institute. Catheter malfunctions were retrospectively analyzed. In the prospective study, we randomly allocated 176 patients to two kinds of TICVPs in a 1:1 assignment ratio. The primary outcome was the malfunction of TICVPs. Results In the retrospective study, the 32 malfunctioning TICVPs were caused by fibrin sheath formations (n = 15, chamber thrombosis (n = 8, TICVP rotation (n = 5, catheter migration (n = 2, and blood clots within the catheters (n = 2. Multivariate analysis showed that being female was a significant factor for poor patency rates of TICVPs (hazard ratio: 5.06; 95% confidence interval (CI 1.32 - 19.46, P = 0.018. In the prospective study, two chamber thromboses occurred in Celsite® (n = 1 and Humanport® (n = 1. The primary patency rates of both Celsite® and Humanport® were 98.9% at 6 months, respectively. Conclusion Our data suggest that catheter malfunctions of TICVPs are more common in females than males. The incidence of TICVP malfunctions does not differ between the two devices (Celsite® vs. Humanport®.

Full Text Available A 1-month-old male flat-coated retriever was anaesthetized for correction of oesophageal constriction caused by a vascular ring anomaly. Anaesthesia was uneventfully induced with intravenous fentanyl, diazepam, and propofol and maintained with isoflurane in oxygen and air. An intercostal block with bupivacaine and lidocaine was performed, and additional analgesia with an infusion of fentanyl was provided. Fluid therapy consisted in 5% glucose in lactated Ringer’s solution and hetastarch 6%, which proved adequate to maintain normoglycemia and normovolemia. A lateral thoracotomy was performed, and the ligamentum arteriosum was ligated. Intraoperatively, heart rate (HR varied between 120 and 180 beats min−1 without accompanying changes in blood pressure. No arrhythmias were observed or bleeding occurred. The dog recovered uneventfully. Postoperative analgesia consisted in fentanyl infusion adjusted to the patient's requirement and metamizol. This paper describes for the first time the use of balanced anaesthesia and multimodal analgesia in a paediatric dog undergoing thoracotomy.

Tile Calorimeter modules stored at CERN. The larger modules belong to the Barrel, whereas the smaller ones are for the two Extended Barrels. (The article was about the completion of the 64 modules for one of the latter.) The photo on the first page of the Bulletin n°26/2002, from 24 July 2002, illustrating the article «The ATLAS Tile Calorimeter gets into shape» was published with a wrong caption. We would like to apologise for this mistake and so publish it again with the correct caption.

The photo on the second page of the Bulletin n°48/2002, from 25 November 2002, illustrating the article «Spanish Visit to CERN» was published with a wrong caption. We would like to apologise for this mistake and so publish it again with the correct caption. The Spanish delegation, accompanied by Spanish scientists at CERN, also visited the LHC superconducting magnet test hall (photo). From left to right: Felix Rodriguez Mateos of CERN LHC Division, Josep Piqué i Camps, Spanish Minister of Science and Technology, César Dopazo, Director-General of CIEMAT (Spanish Research Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology), Juan Antonio Rubio, ETT Division Leader at CERN, Manuel Aguilar-Benitez, Spanish Delegate to Council, Manuel Delfino, IT Division Leader at CERN, and Gonzalo León, Secretary-General of Scientific Policy to the Minister.

Full Text Available Regarding Gorelik, G., & Shackelford, T.K. (2011. Human sexual conflict from molecules to culture. Evolutionary Psychology, 9, 564–587: The authors wish to correct an omission in citation to the existing literature. In the final paragraph on p. 570, we neglected to cite Burch and Gallup (2006 [Burch, R. L., & Gallup, G. G., Jr. (2006. The psychobiology of human semen. In S. M. Platek & T. K. Shackelford (Eds., Female infidelity and paternal uncertainty (pp. 141–172. New York: Cambridge University Press.]. Burch and Gallup (2006 reviewed the relevant literature on FSH and LH discussed in this paragraph, and should have been cited accordingly. In addition, Burch and Gallup (2006 should have been cited as the originators of the hypothesis regarding the role of FSH and LH in the semen of rapists. The authors apologize for this oversight.

Introduction. In the Netherlands an access quality improvement plan (QIP) was introduced by vascular access coordinators (VAC) with the aim to decrease vascular access-related complications by preemptive intervention of malfunctioning accesses. A vascular access QIP was established in 24 centres (46

Introduction. In the Netherlands an access quality improvement plan (QIP) was introduced by vascular access coordinators (VAC) with the aim to decrease vascular access-related complications by preemptive intervention of malfunctioning accesses. A vascular access QIP was established in 24 centres (46

Introduction. In the Netherlands an access quality improvement plan (QIP) was introduced by vascular access coordinators (VAC) with the aim to decrease vascular access-related complications by preemptive intervention of malfunctioning accesses. A vascular access QIP was established in 24 centres

Monitoring device differentiates between malfunctions occurring in the system undergoing test and malfunctions within the test instrumentation itself. Electronic circuits in the monitor use transistors to commutate silicon controlled rectifiers by removing the drive voltage, display circuits are then used to monitor multiple discrete lines.

The time-intensity curve (TIC) from contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) image sequence of uterine fibroids provides important parameter information for qualitative and quantitative evaluation of efficacy of treatment such as high-intensity focused ultrasound surgery. However, respiration and other physiological movements inevitably affect the process of CEUS imaging, and this reduces the accuracy of TIC calculation. In this study, a method of TIC calculation for vascular perfusion of uterine fibroids based on subtraction imaging with motion correction is proposed. First, the fibroid CEUS recording video was decoded into frame images based on the record frame rate. Next, the Brox optical flow algorithm was used to estimate the displacement field and correct the motion between two frames based on warp technique. Then, subtraction imaging was performed to extract the positional distribution of vascular perfusion (PDOVP). Finally, the average gray of all pixels in the PDOVP from each image was determined, and this was considered the TIC of CEUS image sequence. Both the correlation coefficient and mutual information of the results with proposed method were larger than those determined using the original method. PDOVP extraction results have been improved significantly after motion correction. The variance reduction rates were all positive, indicating that the fluctuations of TIC had become less pronounced, and the calculation accuracy has been improved after motion correction. This proposed method can effectively overcome the influence of motion mainly caused by respiration and allows precise calculation of TIC.

Full Text Available Vascular dementia is, in its current conceptual form, a distinct type of dementia with a spectrum of specific clinical and pathophysiological features. However, in a very large majority of cases, these alterations occur in an already aged brain, characterized by a milieu of cellular and molecular events common for different neurodegenerative diseases. The cell signaling defects and molecular dyshomeostasis might lead to neuronal malfunction prior to the death of neurons and the alteration of neuronal networks. In the present paper, we explore some of the molecular mechanisms underlying brain malfunction triggered by cerebrovascular disease and risk factors. We suggest that, in the age of genetic investigation and molecular diagnosis, the concept of vascular dementia needs a new approach.

Insulin pump malfunctions and failures continue to occur; however, more severe malfunctions such as the "runaway pump" phenomenon are rarely reported. This article describes two cases of pump malfunction in which pump users appear to have received an unsolicited bolus of insulin resulting in severe episodes of hypoglycemia during hospitalization. Both cases of insulin pump malfunction occurred in the inpatient setting at a large academic medical center in the United States. An analysis of the corresponding insulin pump downloads was performed. The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (MAUDE) database was searched for similar cases involving Medtronic (Northridge, CA) insulin pumps using the terms "pump," "infusion," "insulin AND malfunction AND Medtronic." The two cases described show remarkable similarities, each demonstrating a severe hypoglycemic event preceded by an infusion site change followed by an alarm. In both cases a rapid spraying of insulin was reported. The insulin pump downloads validated much of the patients' and medical staff's descriptions of events. The FDA's MAUDE database search revealed 425 cases meeting our search term criteria. All cases were reviewed. Seven cases were identified involving independent movement of the reservoir piston. The cases detailed are the first to describe an insulin pump malfunction of this nature in the hospital setting involving unsolicited insulin boluses leading to severe hypoglycemia. The cases are particularly compelling in that they were witnessed by medical personnel. Providers and patients should receive instruction education on the recognition and management of insulin pump malfunction.

Malaria during pregnancy is a major factor in infant morbidity and mortality. In this issue of Cell Host and Microbe, Conroy et al. (2013) propose that C5a, a product of complement cascade activation, counteracts the placental vascular remodeling response induced by Plasmodium infection and contributes to fetal growth restriction. Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia.

The objective of I and C function test facility (FTF) is to validate newly developed digital control and protection algorithm, alarm reduction algorithm and the function of operator support system and so on. To realize transient and accident situation in the FTF, the result of the activation of malfunction should be similar to the situation of real nuclear power plants. In this technical report, describe the Group, Malfunction No., Description, Option, Recommendations, Considered in Subroutine, Limitations, Cause, and Effect of the malfunctions implemented in FTF. (author).

The wide variety of clinical courses that lead to the development of severe aplastic anemia (AA) makes it difficult to speculate whether treatment for AA is required in the early phase. The objective of this study was to identify a method for predicting the clinical course of AA at the onset of the disease. First, in healthy adults, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) released per platelet was measured by the activation of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and platelet-poor plasma (PPP). Serum concentration of VEGF, serum concentration of VEGF corrected for platelet count, and serum concentration of VEGF corrected for both platelet count and hematocrit (corrected VEGF) were then compared to VEGF released per platelet. Corrected VEGF showed the best correlation with VEGF released per platelet by the activation of PRP in healthy subjects (R (2) = in a single 0.806, p = 0.001). Next, corrected VEGF was assayed in 11 pediatric patients with AA at the time of diagnosis. Corrected VEGF in AA patients was significantly greater than that in age-matched control subjects [1.32 × 10(-6) pg (range 0.36-1.85) vs. 0.18 × 10(-6) pg (range 0.12-0.94)] (p = 0.002). Moreover, corrected VEGF in AA patients who did not require treatment for more than 2 years was significantly greater than that in AA patients who required earlier treatment [1.67 × 10(-6) pg (range 1.32-1.85) vs. 0.87 × 10(-6) pg (0.36-1.34)] (p = 0.011). These data indicate that a compensatory mechanism for increasing VEGF and preventing disease progression might play a role in AA. Corrected VEGF may be useful for predicting the clinical course of AA.

First results on changes in vascular physiology in the first french spationaut during the French-russian spatial mission CASSIOPEE are reported in this paper. The data, obtained by Air Plethysmography during flight, evidence at the level of lower limbs alterations of venous filling and emptying characteristics (the latter particularly depending on the muscular pump function of the calf) and of capillary circulation.

Conclusions: Comparing the advantages and disadvantages of this method to the previous laparoscopically repaired catheter, we concluded that this new method is efficient, and is a suitable way for malfunctioning PD catheter salvage.

Hopfield associative memories with alphan malfunctioning neurons are considered. Using some facts from exchangeable events theory, the asymptotic storage capacity of such a network is derived as a function of the parameter alpha under stability and attractivity requirements. It is shown that the asymptotic storage capacity is (1-alpha)(2)/n(4 log n) under stability and (1-alpha)(2)(1-2rho)(2)n/(4 log n) under attractivity requirements, respectively. Comparing these capacities with their maximum values corresponding to the case when there is no malfunctioning neurons, alpha=0, shows the robustness of the retrieval mechanism of Hopfield associative memories with respect to the existence of malfunctioning neurons. This result also supports the claim that neural networks are fault tolerant.

Full Text Available Background: Hydrocephalus secondary to tuberculous meningitis (TBM is a challenging condition to treat. Though ventriculo-peritoneal (VP shunt is an accepted modality of treatment for hydrocephalus in TBM, there is a high rate of complications associated with the same. Objective: The study was planned to evaluate various factors associated with shunt malfunction in patients undergoing VP shunt surgery for hydrocephalus due to TBM. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of all the patients undergoing VP shunt and shunt revision for TBM between 2004 and 2008 was performed. 449 VP shunt surgeries were performed in 432 patients for hydrocephalus due to TBM. Among these 70 shunt revisions were performed in 53 patients. Results: Shunt malfunction rate in our series was 16.2%. High cerebrospinal fluid (CSF protein concentration (>200 mg/dL was associated with 5 times increased incidence of shunt malfunction. Patients with hyponatremia (Na + <130 mEq/dL prior to surgery had a 3 times increased incidence of shunt malfunction (P < 0.05. Other factors such as duration of symptoms, presence of neurological deficits, Evan′s index, third ventricular diameter, thickness of exudates, presence of infarcts, anemia, CSF cellularity and CSF glucose concentration were not associated with increased incidence of shunt malfunction. Analysis showed that shunt viability was longest in patients with normal serum sodium levels and CSF protein concentration less than 200 mg/dL and shortest in patients with low serum sodium and CSF protein concentration more than 200 mg/dL. Conclusions: Patients with pre-operative hyponatremia and high CSF protein concentration have a higher incidence of shunt malfunction and need to be followed-up closely.

The epidermal growth factor receptors, EGFR and EGFR2 (ErbB2), appear important mediators of diabetes-induced vascular dysfunction. We investigated whether targeted dual inhibition of EGFR and ErbB2 with Lapatinib would be effective in treating diabetes-induced vascular dysfunction in a rat model of type 1 diabetes. In streptozotocin-induced diabetes, chronic 4-week oral or acute, ex vivo, administration of Lapatinib prevented the development of vascular dysfunction as indicated by the attenuation of the hyper-reactivity of the diabetic mesenteric vascular bed (MVB) to norephinephrine without correcting hyperglycemia. Chronic in vivo or acute ex vivo Lapatinib treatment also significantly attenuated diabetes-induced increases in phosphorylation of EGFR, ErbB2, ERK1/2, AKT, ROCK2 and IkB-alpha as well as normalized the reduced levels of phosphorylated FOXO3A, and eNOS (Ser1177) in the diabetic MVB. Similar results were observed in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) cultured in high glucose (25 mM) treated with Lapatinib or small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting the ErbB2 receptor. Lapatinib also prevented high glucose-induced apoptosis in VSMC. Thus, Lapatinib corrects hyperglycemia-induced apoptosis and vascular dysfunction with concomitant reversal of diabetes or high glucose-induced signaling changes in EGFR/ErbB2 and downstream signaling pathways implying that targeted dual inhibition of EGFR/ErbB2 might be an effective vasculoprotective treatment strategy in diabetic patients.

I and C systems should provide the reliable information particularly when an accident occurs and operators should also take action to mitigate the accident by identifying the cause of accident. However, incorrect information might be provided due to malfunction or failure of safety system caused by an accident. Accordingly, operators get confused and it made difficult for them to take appropriate actions. If they fail to grasp the exact information of progress then it might lead to spread of accident. Thus, we propose the idea that enables to identify safety system malfunctions or failures in such environment impossible to guarantee of safety system. For identifying the malfunctions or failures of a safety system, the correlation visualization which shows linear relationship between parameters is performed. The correlation visualization results show different images with various scenarios, so it determines which system has problem to operate. Therefore we can identify the safety system operability by the comparison of the correlation visualization results. Furthermore, we can determine specifically which parameter shows abnormal signal using correlation visualization after identifying the operability of safety system. The methodology can determine the situation by viewing the overall signals and include the result robustly though incorrect signal input to the indictor. Proposed methodology is demonstrated through case study by specifying SBLOCA as an initiating event that is judged greater contribution of severe accident. Various accident data are obtained according to operability of safety system and confirmed a feasibility of idea by applying to case study. Overall reliability of I and C system can be improved using suggested methodology. As a result, this research can be helpful in accident response and management if safety system malfunctioned when an accident occurred.

Central venous access is increasingly becoming the domain of the radiologist, both in terms of the insertion of central venous catheters (CVCs) and in the subsequent management of these lines. This article seeks to provide an overview of the CVC types available for paediatric patients and a more detailed explanation of the spectrum of complications that may lead to catheter malfunction. A standard catheter contrast study or 'linogram' technique is described. The normal appearances of such a study and a detailed pictorial review of abnormal catheter studies are provided, together with a brief overview of how information from catheter investigations can guide the management of catheter complications. (orig.)

Patients with shunted hydrocephalus presenting with altered mental status and ventriculomegaly are generally considered to be in shunt failure requiring surgical treatment. The authors describe a case of shunted hydrocephalus secondary to a disseminated neuroectodermal tumor in a pediatric patient in whom rapid fluctuations in sodium levels due to diabetes insipidus repeatedly led to significant changes in ventricle size, with invasively confirmed normal shunt function and low intracranial pressure. This clinical picture exactly mimics shunt malfunction, requires urgent nonsurgical therapy, and underscores the importance of considering serum osmolar abnormalities in the differential diagnosis for ventriculomegaly.

Composite fiber optic overhead ground wire (OPGW) is increasingly applied in China’s overhead transmission lines. The stainless steel structure is adopted by most OPGWs as it is very small and easy to match the existing ground wire. The malfunction of OPGW in Beijing-Shanghai Optical Communication Project was analyzed through the chemical composition method and spectrum semi-quantitative method. The analysis indicates that the cable fault was due to the failure of seepage and irregular holes in the steel pipe of the optical unit. The rain water and the watery air entered into the optical units, and the water in turn became ice when temperature dropped. The occurrence of ice led to the acceleration of attenuation of the fiber. The results show that the rupture of stainless steel tube is mainly due to the instability of welding technique. The malfunction of OPGW is due to the local defects of welding seam because of local stress concentration in the manufacturing process.

Purpose: Photon therapy has been reported to induce resets of implanted cardiac devices, but the clinical sequelae of treating patients with such devices with proton beam therapy (PBT) are not well known. We reviewed the incidence of device malfunctions among patients undergoing PBT. Methods and Materials: From March 2009 through July 2012, 42 patients with implanted cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED; 28 pacemakers and 14 cardioverter-defibrillators) underwent 42 courses of PBT for thoracic (23, 55%), prostate (15, 36%), liver (3, 7%), or base of skull (1, 2%) tumors at a single institution. The median prescribed dose was 74 Gy (relative biological effectiveness; range 46.8-87.5 Gy), and the median distance from the treatment field to the CIED was 10 cm (range 0.8-40 cm). Maximum proton and neutron doses were estimated for each treatment course. All CIEDs were checked before radiation delivery and monitored throughout treatment. Results: Median estimated peak proton and neutron doses to the CIED in all patients were 0.8 Gy (range 0.13-21 Gy) and 346 Sv (range 11-1100 mSv). Six CIED malfunctions occurred in 5 patients (2 pacemakers and 3 defibrillators). Five of these malfunctions were CIED resets, and 1 patient with a defibrillator (in a patient with a liver tumor) had an elective replacement indicator after therapy that was not influenced by radiation. The mean distance from the proton beam to the CIED among devices that reset was 7.0 cm (range 0.9-8 cm), and the mean maximum neutron dose was 655 mSv (range 330-1100 mSv). All resets occurred in patients receiving thoracic PBT and were corrected without clinical incident. The generator for the defibrillator with the elective replacement indicator message was replaced uneventfully after treatment. Conclusions: The incidence of CIED resets was about 20% among patients receiving PBT to the thorax. We recommend that PBT be avoided in pacing-dependent patients and that patients with any type of CIED receiving

This paper presents a simplified approach to simulation of malfunctions of the Control Moment Gyroscope (CMG) on board the International Space Station (ISS). These malfunctions will be used as part of flight training of CMG failure scenarios in the guidance navigation control (GNC) subsystem of the Training Systems for 21st Century (TS21) simulator. The CMG malfunctions are grouped under mechanical, thermal and electrical categories. A malfunction can be as simple as one which only affects the telemetry or a complex one that changes the state and behavior of the CMG model. In both cases, the ISS GNC flight software will read the telemetry and respond accordingly. The user executes these malfunctions by supplying conditional data which modify internal model states and then elicit a response as seen on the user displays. Ground operators and crew on board the ISS use CMG malfunction procedures to better understand and respond to anomalies observed within the CMG subsystem.

Half of all dizziness patients suffer from a malfunction of the inner ear and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo causes 25-30% of these malfunctions. During the latest two decades new vestibular test equipment has been developed and has made it possible to refine the vestibular diagnoses...

The ventricular-peritoneal shunt for hydrocephalus is a well-known and established method but is sometimes complicated by shunt malfunction due to several causes. Eosinophilic meningitis is a rare disease, but has occasionally been reported as a cause of shunt malfunction. Here, we report the case of a 74-year-old woman with repeated shunt malfunction and eosinophilic meningitis due to a silicone allergy. Originally, the patient received a ventricular-peritoneal shunt for normal pressure hydrocephalus secondary to subarachnoid hemorrhage. However, shunt malfunction was identified 6 weeks later, and the first shunt revision was performed using a new shunt system from a different company. Further evaluation to identify the cause of the shunt malfunction revealed no abnormal findings, except for eosinophilia in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid. A second shunt malfunction was identified 16 weeks after the first shunt revision. We therefore concluded that eosinophilic meningitis caused by a silicone allergy might be the real culprit and a second shunt revision was performed using a silicone "extracted" tube. Since then, the patient's course has been free from shunt malfunction. In this case, the serum and cerebrospinal fluid eosinophilia were useful markers for identifying the cause of repeated shunt malfunctions. The silicone "extracted" tube may be helpful for diagnosis and therapy.

The DNA damage response (DDR) is a complex biological system activated by different types of DNA damage. Mutations in certain components of the DDR machinery can lead to geno-mic instability disorders that culminate in tissue degeneration, premature aging, and various types of cancers. Intriguingly, malfunctioning DDR plays a role in the etiology of late onset brain degener-ative disorders such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s diseases. For many years, brain degenerative disorders were thought to result from aberrant neural death. Here we discuss the evi-dence that supports our novel hypothesis that brain degenerative diseases involve dysfunction of glial cells (astrocytes, microglia, and oligodendrocytes). Impairment in the functionality of glial cells results in pathological neuro-glial interactions that, in turn, generate a‘‘hostile”environment that impairs the functionality of neuronal cells. These events can lead to systematic neural demise on a scale that appears to be proportional to the severity of the neurological deficit.

Full Text Available The DNA damage response (DDR is a complex biological system activated by different types of DNA damage. Mutations in certain components of the DDR machinery can lead to genomic instability disorders that culminate in tissue degeneration, premature aging, and various types of cancers. Intriguingly, malfunctioning DDR plays a role in the etiology of late onset brain degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s diseases. For many years, brain degenerative disorders were thought to result from aberrant neural death. Here we discuss the evidence that supports our novel hypothesis that brain degenerative diseases involve dysfunction of glial cells (astrocytes, microglia, and oligodendrocytes. Impairment in the functionality of glial cells results in pathological neuro-glial interactions that, in turn, generate a “hostile” environment that impairs the functionality of neuronal cells. These events can lead to systematic neural demise on a scale that appears to be proportional to the severity of the neurological deficit.

Full Text Available Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy is a systemic medical condition and has been attributed to multi-organ pathologies. Genetic, nutritional, hormonal, age and gender differences are involved in abnormal homocysteine (Hcy metabolism that produces HHcy. Homocysteine is an intermediate for many key processes such as cellular methylation and cellular antioxidant potential and imbalances in Hcy production and/or catabolism impacts gene expression and cell signaling including GPCR signaling. Furthermore, HHcy might damage the vagus nerve and superior cervical ganglion and affects various GPCR functions; therefore it can impair both the parasympathetic and sympathetic regulation in the blood vessels of skeletal muscle and affect long-term muscle function. Understanding cellular targets of Hcy during HHcy in different contexts and its role either as a primary risk factor or as an aggravator of certain disease conditions would provide better interventions. In this review we have provided recent Hcy mediated mechanistic insights into different diseases and presented potential implications in the context of reduced muscle function and integrity. Overall, the impact of HHcy in various skeletal muscle malfunctions is underappreciated; future studies in this area will provide deeper insights and improve our understanding of the association between HHcy and diminished physical function.

Ares I-X was the designation given to the flight test version of the Ares I rocket which was developed by NASA (also known as the Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) component of the Constellation Program). The Ares I-X flight test vehicle achieved a successful flight test on October 28, 2009, from Pad LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida (KSC). As part of the flight plan approval for the test vehicle, a range safety malfunction turn analysis was performed to support the risk assessment and vehicle destruct criteria development processes. Several vehicle failure scenarios were identified which could have caused the vehicle trajectory to deviate from its normal flight path. The effects of these failures were evaluated with an Ares I-X 6 degrees-of-freedom (6-DOF) digital simulation, using the Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories Version II (POST2) simulation tool. The Ares I-X simulation analysis provided output files containing vehicle trajectory state information. These were used by other risk assessment and vehicle debris trajectory simulation tools to determine the risk to personnel and facilities in the vicinity of the launch area at KSC, and to develop the vehicle destruct criteria used by the flight test range safety officer in the event of a flight test anomaly of the vehicle. The simulation analysis approach used for this study is described, including descriptions of the failure modes which were considered and the underlying assumptions and ground rules of the study.

Full Text Available The Oyu Tolgoi (OT project, one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines, is located in Gobi Desert of Mongolia. To help meet its target of Net Positive Impact on key biodiversity features such as the Houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata the OT installed bird fl ight diverters (BFDs include spiral and fl apper devices to its power transmission lines to reduce the risk of birds hitting the wires. Despite the many studies demonstrating that BFDs reduce collision rates, we could fi nd no published information on malfunction rates of BFDs. In January 2013, we surveyed the physical function of 1,200 BFDs (e.g. 600 fl appers and 600 spirals in three sample areas on each of four lines of varying voltage and structure. Of the 600 fl appers examined, 123 had malfunctioned within nine months of installation, while the malfunction rate of the 600 spirals studied was zero. Using a Generalized Linear Mixed Model, we found that the rate of fl apper malfunction increased with decreasing fl apper size and power line diameter. Further, the fl apper malfunction rate increased as the distance between poles increased. The cost of replacing malfunctioning BFDs is very high as there are serious health and safety constraints related to working with live wires. Factors aff ecting diverter malfunctioning need to be considered for future powerline projects and our information can serve as basis for developing national standards or regulations for powerline mitigation in Mongolia.

The Chinese smart electric grid constriction has been increasing with the technology development. However, the monitoring equipment and background system which should play important roles did not work as intended and restrict to the efficacy of the smart grid. In this essay, it has researched an intelligentized malfunction diagnosis and predictions system which could work with the existed monitoring equipment to function as whole energy monitoring, common malfunction diagnosis, faulted proactive judgment and automatically elimination.

Full Text Available Robotic surgery (RS technology has undergone rapid growth in the surgical field since its approval. In clinical practice, failure of robotic procedures mainly results from a surgeon’s inability or to a device malfunction. We reviewed the literature to estimate the impact of this second circumstance in RS and its consequent legal implications. According to data from the literature, device malfunction is rare. We believe it is necessary to complement surgical training with a technical understanding of RS devices.

The vascular system is the body's network of blood vessels. It includes the arteries, veins and capillaries that carry ... to and from the heart. Problems of the vascular system are common and can be serious. Arteries ...

Vertigo is a common complaint in neurology and medicine. The most common causes of vertigo are benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, vestibular neuritis, Meniere’s disease, and vascular disorders. Vertigo of vascular origin is usually limited to migraine, transient ischemic attacks, and ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke. Vascular causes lead to various central or peripheral vestibular syndromes with vertigo. This review provides an overview of epidemiology and clinical syndromes of vascular vert...

... Donors Corporate Sponsors Donor Privacy Policy What Is Vascular Disease? What Is Vascular Disease? Vascular disease is any abnormal condition of ... steps to prevent vascular disease here. Understanding the Vascular System Your vascular system – the highways of the ...

... interference with normal control of the aircraft for which derogates the flying qualities. (12) A complete loss... operation of the aircraft. (13) A failure or malfunction of more than one attitude, airspeed, or altitude... TRANSPORTATION AIRCRAFT CERTIFICATION PROCEDURES FOR PRODUCTS AND PARTS General § 21.3 Reporting of failures...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to unexplore the area of information and communication technology (ICT) use in organizations related to the assumed productivity gains by the use of ICTs. On the one hand, the paper focus on the losses of labor time that are caused by malfunctioning hardware o

Vascular dementia is one of the most frequently occurring dementia syndromes. Its prevalence is about 5% among subjects above 85 years of age. Elevated blood pressure and atherosclerosis are the most important risk factors. According to international criteria, vascular dementia usually occurs within

Thromboses can result from venous stasis, vascular injury or hypercoagulability, and those involving the deep veins proximal to the knee are linked to an increased risk of PE.2 .... tool for DVT in hospitalised patients, where higher scores.

... that includes enjoyable activities well within the comfort zone of the person with vascular dementia. New situations, ... your cholesterol in check. A healthy, low-fat diet and cholesterol-lowering medications if you need them ...

The vascular hemiplegia is the functional disorder of a lateral half of the body produced by alterations of cerebral vessels. Should review the concepts of this common condition, with the dual aim of expanding its nosographic value and considering the hemiplegic patient as worthy of the highest professional care La hemiplejia vascular, es el trastorno funcional de una mitad lateral del cuerpo producido por alteraciones de los vasos cerebrales. Conviene revisar los conceptos sobre esta frec...

The vascular hemiplegia is the functional disorder of a lateral half of the body produced by alterations of cerebral vessels. Should review the concepts of this common condition, with the dual aim of expanding its nosographic value and considering the hemiplegic patient as worthy of the highest professional care La hemiplejia vascular, es el trastorno funcional de una mitad lateral del cuerpo producido por alteraciones de los vasos cerebrales. Conviene revisar los conceptos sobre esta frec...

as an anti-inflammatory agent, and its link with depression has been proved, zinc deficiency causing depression- and anxiety-like behavior with immune malfunction. It has been discovered that trace-element zinc acts as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system via zinc receptor GPR39. In this study we...... investigated whether GPR39 knockout would cause depressive-like behavior as measured by the forced swim test, and whether these changes would coexist with immune malfunction. In GPR39 knockout mice versus a wild-type control we found: i) depressive-like behavior; ii) significantly reduced thymus weight; (iii......Depression is a serious psychiatric disorder affecting not only the monaminergic, glutamatergic, and GABAergic neurosystems, but also the immune system. Patients suffering from depression show disturbance in the immune parameters as well as increased susceptibility to infections. Zinc is well known...

on a simulated annealing algorithm. In a normal situation, the CPGs synchronize and their dynamics are identical. With leg malfunction or disability, the CPGs lose synchronization leading to independent dynamics. In this case, the learning mechanism is applied to automatically adjust the remaining legs...... chaotic CPG controller has difficulties dealing with leg malfunction. Specifically, in the scenarios presented here, its movement permanently deviates from the desired trajectory. To address this problem, we extend the single chaotic CPG to multiple CPGs with learning. The learning mechanism is based...... in a physical simulation of a quadruped as well as a hexapod robot and finally in a real six-legged walking machine called AMOSII. The experimental results presented here reveal that using multiple CPGs with learning is an effective approach for adaptive locomotion generation where, for instance, different body...

An originally chaotic system can be controlled into various periodic dynamics. When it is implemented into a legged robot’s locomotion control as a central pattern generator (CPG), sophisticated gait patterns arise so that the robot can perform various walking behaviors. However, such a single...... on a simulated annealing algorithm. In a normal situation, the CPGs synchronize and their dynamics are identical. With leg malfunction or disability, the CPGs lose synchronization leading to independent dynamics. In this case, the learning mechanism is applied to automatically adjust the remaining legs......’ oscillation frequencies so that the robot adapts its locomotion to deal with the malfunction. As a consequence, the trajectory produced by the multiple chaotic CPGs resembles the original trajectory far better than the one produced by only a single CPG. The performance of the system is evaluated first...

Full Text Available Introduction: The patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D suffer from the malfunctions of the sexual behaviors, and several mechanisms have been proposed to describe these disorders. The innate immunity may be involved in the malfunctions of T2D patients. Melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5 (MDA5 and retinoic acid (RA-inducible gene 1 (RIG-1, as the innate immunity receptors, are the responsible molecules for the activation of some intracellular signaling pathways and the induction of inflammation. Thus, this study aimed to examine the molecules which may participate in the induction/stimulation of sexual malfunctions in the female T2D patients. Methods: Sexual functions were evaluated in 41 female T2D patients using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI questionnaire. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR technique was used to quantify MDA5 and RIG-1 mRNA levels. Results: Results showed that increased RIG-1 mRNA levels were significantly associated with the bad orgasm in the female T2D patients compared to the female patients with good orgasm. Expression of RIG-1 and MDA5 levels were not associated with other sexual functions’ criteria. Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrated that bad orgasm is associated with the increased RIG-1 expression. Consequently, the correlation between inflammation and bad orgasm in a RIG-1 dependent manner is suggested.

Full Text Available The presented paper shows the results of the laboratory study on the relation between chosen malfunctions of a fuel injector and composition of exhaust gas from the marine engine. The object of research is a marine 3-cylinder, four-stroke, direct injection diesel engine with an intercooler system. The engine was loaded with a generator and supercharged. The generator was electrically connected to the water resistance. The engine operated with a load between 50 kW and 250 kW at a constant speed. The engine load and speed, parameters of the turbocharger, systems of cooling, fuelling, lubricating and air exchange, were measured. Fuel injection and combustion pressures in all cylinders of the engine were also recorded. Exhaust gas composition was recorded by using a electrochemical gas analyzer. Air pressure, temperature and humidity were also recorded. Emission characteristics of the engine were calculated according to ISO 8178 standard regulations. During the study the engine operated at the technical condition recognized as „working properly” and with simulated fuel injector malfunctions. Simulation of malfunctions consisted in the increasing and decreasing of fuel injector static opening pressure, decalibration of fuel injector holes and clogging 2 neighboring of 9 fuel injector holes on one of 3 engine cylinders.

This article reviews the initial assessment and emergent management of several common as well as uncommon vascular emergencies. Aortic dissection, aneurysms, and arterial occlusive disease are familiar but challenging clinical entities. Less frequently encountered conditions are also discussed including an aortic enteric fistula, mesenteric venous thrombosis, phlegmasia alba dolens, and subclavian vein thrombosis.

Previous studies have shown that automated radioactive waste assay techniques, such as segmented gamma scanner (SGS) and automated qualitative and quantitative (AQ2), have severely underestimated fissile material due to either the malfunction or absence of appropriate lump correction routines. This paper examines the application of manual techniques, such as Monte Carlo N particle (MCNP) and spectral non-destructive assay platform (SNAP) software, to lump corrections in plutonium (Pu), enriched uranium (EU) and depleted uranium (DU) waste streams. Excellent results have been obtained when comparing MCNP with SNAP and applying the SNAP lump correction routine to a range of simulated and typical wastes containing various Pu and EU lump sizes. It has been concluded that the need for lump corrections was relatively rare and usually apparent from abnormal gamma ray peak area ratios, since most AWE waste streams are only lightly shielded.

This paper describes the definition and the characteristics of human errors. Different types of human behavior are classified, and their relation to different error mechanisms are analyzed. The effect of conditioning factors related to affective, motivating aspects of the work situation as well...... as physiological factors are also taken into consideration. The taxonomy for event analysis, including human malfunction, is presented. Possibilities for the prediction of human error are discussed. The need for careful studies in actual work situations is expressed. Such studies could provide a better...... understanding of the complexity of human error situations as well as the data needed to characterize these situations....

Diagnosis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt infection is difficult. Growing evidence links this pattern to biofilm-associated infections (BAI). Biofilm may explain the indolent development of the infection, and the poor efficiency of traditional microbiologic methods. We report the case of a patient admitted for hydrocephalus associated to CSF shunt malfunction. None of the clinical, serum, or CSF laboratory findings were in favor of an infectious process. Only scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the presence of biofilm. Hence, despite a broad CSF shunt infection definition, some infections could remain undiagnosed by the traditional approach. This study is the first to provide some direct evidence for bacterial biofilm-associated CSF shunt infection.

The presented paper shows the results of the laboratory study on the relation between chosen malfunctions of a fuel injector and composition of exhaust gas from the marine engine. The object of research is a marine 3-cylinder, four-stroke, direct injection diesel engine with an intercooler system. The engine was loaded with a generator and supercharged. The generator was electrically connected to the water resistance. The engine operated with a load between 50 kW and 250 kW at a constant spee...

To establish optical in situ detection of mitochondrial malfunction, non-radiative energy transfer from the coenzyme NADH to the mitochondrial marker rhodamine 123 (R123) was examined. Dual excitation of R123 via energy transfer from excited NADH molecules as well as by direct absorption of light results in two fluorescence signals whose ratio is a measure of mitochondrial NADH. These signals are detected simultaneously using a time-gated (nanosecond) technique for energy transfer measurements and a frequency selective technique for direct excitation and fluorescence monitoring of R123. Optical and electronic components of the experimental setup are described and compared with a previously established microscopic system.

Vascular anomalies are very common in children and encompass a wide spectrum of diseases. Many vascular anomalies can be mistaken for infantile hemangioma (IH). In addition, there is a variety of rare disorders including benign and malignant tumors that may mimic IH and other types of vascular anomalies. Understanding the clinical features, natural history, and typical clinical course of different types of vascular anomalies is essential in order to make the correct diagnosis and guide management. Radiologic imaging plays an important role in establishing the diagnosis; and when the diagnosis remains in doubt, a biopsy performed by a surgical specialist with expertise may prove to be lifesaving.

Full Text Available The various multi-sensor signal features from a diesel engine constitute a complex high-dimensional dataset. The non-linear dimensionality reduction method, t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE, provides an effective way to implement data visualization for complex high-dimensional data. However, irrelevant features can deteriorate the performance of data visualization, and thus, should be eliminated a priori. This paper proposes a feature subset score based t-SNE (FSS-t-SNE data visualization method to deal with the high-dimensional data that are collected from multi-sensor signals. In this method, the optimal feature subset is constructed by a feature subset score criterion. Then the high-dimensional data are visualized in 2-dimension space. According to the UCI dataset test, FSS-t-SNE can effectively improve the classification accuracy. An experiment was performed with a large power marine diesel engine to validate the proposed method for diesel engine malfunction classification. Multi-sensor signals were collected by a cylinder vibration sensor and a cylinder pressure sensor. Compared with other conventional data visualization methods, the proposed method shows good visualization performance and high classification accuracy in multi-malfunction classification of a diesel engine.

Vascular malformations and hemangiomas are common in children but remain a source of confusion during diagnosis, in part because of the lack of a uniform terminology. With the existing treatments for hemangiomas and vascular malformations, it is important to make the correct diagnosis initially to prevent adverse physical and emotional sequelae in not only the child but also the family. The diagnosis of vascular malformations is made primarily by the clinician and based on the physical exam. Imaging is carried out using predominantly ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which are complementary modalities. In most cases of vascular anomalies, US is the first line of imaging as it is readily available, less expensive, lacks ionizing radiation and does not require sedation. MRI is also of great help for further characterizing the lesions. Conventional arteriography is reserved for cases that require therapeutic intervention, more commonly for arteriovenous malformations. Radiographs usually play no role in diagnosing vascular anomalies in children. In this article, the author describes the terminology and types of hemangiomas and vascular malformations and their clinical, histological features, as well as the imaging approach and appearance.

SUMMARY Penicillin and related beta-lactams comprise one of our oldest and most widely used antibiotic therapies. These drugs have long been known to target enzymes called penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) that build the bacterial cell wall. Investigating the downstream consequences of target inhibition and how they contribute to the lethal action of these important drugs, we demonstrate that beta-lactams do more than just inhibit the PBPs as is commonly believed. Rather, they induce a toxic malfunctioning of their target biosynthetic machinery involving a futile cycle of cell wall synthesis and degradation, thereby depleting cellular resources and bolstering their killing activity. Characterization of this mode of action additionally revealed a quality-control function for enzymes that cleave bonds in the cell wall matrix. The results thus provide insight into the mechanism of cell wall assembly and suggest how best to interfere with the process for future antibiotic development. PMID:25480295

A computer code named 'Safety and Performance Analysis Code (SPACE)' has been being developed in order to replace several existing computer codes used in designing nuclear power plant (NPP) in Korea. This SPACE code is a system code and should be able to simulate various plant events, needed for safety analysis of pressurized water reactors (PWRs), such as loss of coolant accident (LOCA), steam line break (SLB), feedwater line break (FLB), steam generator tube rupture (SGTR), and several anticipated operational occurrences (AOOs). Therefore, respective simulations of above events with the SPACE code should be verified and validated to utilize this code in the safety analysis. In this work, a feasibility analysis is performed for the simulation of pressurizer level control system (PLCS) malfunction event for the Shin-Kori units 3 and 4 (SKN 3 and 4)

To establish optical in situ detection of mitochondrial malfunction, non-radiative energy transfer from the coenzyme NADH to the mitochondrial marker rhodamine 123 (R123) was examined. Dual excitation of R123 via energy transfer from excited NADH molecules as well as by direct absorption of light results in two fluorescence signals whose ratio is a measure of mitochondrial NADH. An experimental setup was developed, where these signals are detected simultaneously using a time-gated technique for energy transfer measurements and a frequency selective technique for direct excitation and fluorescence monitoring of R123. Optical and electronic components of the apparatus are described, and preliminary result of cultivated endothelial cells are reported. Results are compared with those obtained from a previously established microscopic system and discussed in view of potential applications.

Dysautonomia appears in almost all patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) in a certain stage of their condition. The aim of our study was to detect the development and type of autonomic disorders, find out the factors affecting their manifestation by analyzing the potential association with demographic variables related to clinical presentation, as well as the symptoms of the disease in a PD patient cohort. The patients with PD treated at the Clinic of Neurology in Belgrade during a 2-year period, divided into 3 groups were studied: 25 de novo patients, 25 patients already treated and had no long-term levodopa therapy-related complications and 22 patients treated with levodopa who manifested levodopa-induced motor complications. Simultaneously, 35 healthy control subjects, matched by age and sex, were also analyzed. Autonomic nervous system malfunction was defined by Ewing diagnostic criteria. The tests, indicators of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, were significantly different in the PD patients as compared with the controls, suggesting the failure of both systems. However, it was shown, in the selected groups of patients, that the malfunction of both systems was present in two treated groups of PD patients, while de novo group manifested only sympathetic dysfunction. For this reason, the complete autonomic neuropathy was diagnosed only in the treated PD patients, while de novo patients were defined as those with the isolated sympathetic dysfunction. The patients with the complete autonomic neuropathy differed from the subjects without such neuropathy in higher cumulative and motor unified Parkinson's disease rating score (UPDRS) (p nervous system disturbances among PD patients from the near onset of disease, with a predominant sympathetic nervous system involvement. The patients who developed complete autonomic neuropathy (both sympathetic and parasympathetic) were individuals with considerable level of functional failure, more severe clinical

In the second half of the 19th-century, a group of psychiatric experts discussed the relation between brain malfunction and moral misconduct. In the ensuing debates, scientific discourses on immorality merged with those on insanity and the brain. This yielded a specific definition of what it means t

Full Text Available In today’s technologically driven world, there is a need to better understand the ways that common computer malfunctions affect computer users. These malfunctions may have measurable influences on computer user’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses. An experiment was conducted where participants conducted a series of web search tasks while wearing functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS and galvanic skin response sensors. Two computer malfunctions were introduced during the sessions which had the potential to influence correlates of user trust and suspicion. Surveys were given after each session to measure user’s perceived emotional state, cognitive load, and perceived trust. Results suggest that fNIRS can be used to measure the different cognitive and emotional responses associated with computer malfunctions. These cognitive and emotional changes were correlated with users’ self-report levels of suspicion and trust, and they in turn suggest future work that further explores the capability of fNIRS for the measurement of user experience during human-computer interactions.

The present study is a part of the multi-centered study of model of anesthesia relating adverse events in Thailand by incident report (The Thai Anesthesia Incident Monitoring Study or Thai AIMS). The objective was to identify the frequency distribution, contributing factors, and factors minimizing incident of equipment failure/malfunction. As a prospective descriptive research design, anesthesia providers reported the data as soon as the incidents of equipment failure/malfunction occurred. Standardized forms of incident report were then mailed to the center at Chulalongkorn University and three anesthesiologists reviewed the data. Ninety-two cases of equipment failure/malfunction were reported from 51 hospitals across Thailand Between January and June 2007, 92 incidents of equipment failure/malfunction were reported out of 1996 anesthesia-related incidents (4.6%). Failed/malfunctioned equipment included anesthetic circuit (17.4%), anesthesia machine (15.2%), capnography (15.2%), laryngoscope (15.2%), ventilator (12%), pulse oximeter (8.7%), vaporizer (4.3%), endotracheal tube (3.3%), sodalime (3.3%), and electrocardiogram (2.2%). All 16 anesthetic circuit incidents (100%) were detected by clinical signs whereas five incidents (31.3%) were detected firstly by monitors. All 14 laryngoscope malfunction (100%) were detected solely by clinical signs. Only one out of eight (12.5%) of pulse oximeter incidents was detected by clinical signs before the pulse oximeter itself. Three out of four (75%) incidents of vaporizer were detected by clinical signs before monitors. The majority of equipment malfunction was considered as related to anesthetic (69.6%) and system factors (69.6%) and 71.7% of incidents were preventable. Seventy-four incidents (80.4%) were caused by human error and, specifically, rule-based error in three fourths. Contributing factors were ineffective equipment, haste, lack of experience, ineffective monitors, and inadequate equipment. Factors minimizing

Many direct current (DC) devices must receive their power from the alternating current (AC) grid. Rectifiers use diodes to create DC for these devices. Due to diodes' non-linear nature however, harmonics are created and these travel back into the grid. A significant presence of harmonics causes component heating and possible malfunction. A harmonic mitigation procedure is needed. With the correct usage of transistors, the current drawn by a rectifier can be manipulated to remove almost all harmonics. This process is called power factor correction (PFC), and formally acts to reduce the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the current. To investigate this, a three phase active rectifier was computer simulated and a controller was designed to provide switching signals for the transistors. Finally, the device was constructed in the laboratory to drive a DC motor, verifying its operating principle outside of the idealities of simulation.

Full Text Available Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of metabolic and cardiovascular symptoms: insulin resistance (IR, obesity, dyslipemia. Hypertension and vascular disorders are central to this syndrome. After a brief historical review, we discuss the role of sympathetic tone. Subsequently, we examine the link between endothelial dysfunction and IR. NO is involved in the insulin-elicited capillary vasodilatation. The insulin-signaling pathways causing NO release are different to the classical. There is a vasodilatory pathway with activation of NO synthase through Akt, and a vasoconstrictor pathway that involves the release of endothelin-1 via MAPK. IR is associated with an imbalance between both pathways in favour of the vasoconstrictor one. We also consider the link between hypertension and IR: the insulin hypothesis of hypertension. Next we discuss the importance of perivascular adipose tissue and the role of adipokines that possess vasoactive properties. Finally, animal models used in the study of vascular function of metabolic syndrome are reviewed. In particular, the Zucker fatty rat and the spontaneously hypertensive obese rat (SHROB. This one suffers macro- and microvascular malfunction due to a failure in the NO system and an abnormally high release of vasoconstrictor prostaglandins, all this alleviated with glitazones used for metabolic syndrome therapy.

Vascular tissues, xylem and phloem, form a continuous network throughout the plant body for transport of water, minerals, and food. Characterization of Arabidopsis mutants defective in various aspects of vascular formation has demonstrated that Arabidopsis is an ideal system for investigating the molecular mechanisms controlling vascular development. The processes affected in these mutants include initiation or division of procambium or vascular cambium, formation of continuous vascular cell files, differentiation of procambium or vascular cambium into vascular tissues, cell elongation, patterned secondary wall thickening, and biosynthesis of secondary walls. Identification of the genes affected by some of these mutations has revealed essential roles in vascular development for a cytokinin receptor and several factors mediating auxin transport or signaling. Mutational studies have also identified a number of Arabidopsis mutants defective in leaf venation pattern or vascular tissue organization in stems. Genetic evidence suggests that the vascular tissue organization is regulated by the same positional information that determines organ polarity.

Full Text Available Abstract Asymmetric cell division is a developmental process utilized by several organisms. On the most basic level, an asymmetric division produces two daughter cells, each possessing a different identity or fate. Drosophila melanogaster progenitor cells, referred to as neuroblasts, undergo asymmetric division to produce a daughter neuroblast and another cell known as a ganglion mother cell (GMC. There are several features of asymmetric division in Drosophila that make it a very complex process, and these aspects will be discussed at length. The cell fate determinants that play a role in specifying daughter cell fate, as well as the mechanisms behind setting up cortical polarity within neuroblasts, have proved to be essential to ensuring that neurogenesis occurs properly. The role that mitotic spindle orientation plays in coordinating asymmetric division, as well as how cell cycle regulators influence asymmetric division machinery, will also be addressed. Most significantly, malfunctions during asymmetric cell division have shown to be causally linked with neoplastic growth and tumor formation. Therefore, it is imperative that the developmental repercussions as a result of asymmetric cell division gone awry be understood.

Optimization of activities with the aim to provide quality service in conditions of high profitability, is one of the main objectives chased by managers in transportation companies. As a consequence, directing the attention towards monitoring of maintenance activities of vehicles fleet, can achieve desired results. Two of the most important issues related to the maintenance activity, is the increase of reliability and reduction of fuel consumption of the vehicles fleet. Aforementioned actions represents a way forward for raising the quality and profitability of services offered. In this paper, the main ways of monitoring the fuel consumption, in order to reduce it and increase the reliability of transportation vehicles fleet, are presented. For the evaluation of the maintenance system and the degree of influence of malfunctions recorded on the fuel consumption, using the Pareto -ABC method, following case study on a fleet of buses for urban public transport has been conducted. Results obtained highlights the deficiencies of the maintenance process carried out and constitutes a solid base for the reorganization of the maintenance activity, involving preventive maintenance activities, in order to contribute decisively to the results targeted by the management of transport companies.

To establish optical in situ detection of mitochondrial malfunction, nonradiative energy transfer from the coenzyme NADH to the mitochondrial marker rhodamine 123 (R123) was examined. Dual excitation of R123 via energy transfer from excited NADH molecules as well as by direct absorption of light results in two fluorescence signals whose ratio is a measure of mitochondrial NADH. A screening system was developed in which these signals are detected simultaneously using a time-gated (nanosecond) technique for energy transfer measurements and a frequency selective technique for direct excitation and fluorescence monitoring of R123. Optical and electronic components of the apparatus are described, and results obtained from cultivated endothelial cells are reported. The ratio of fluorescence intensities excited in the near ultraviolet and blue-green spectral ranges increased by a factor 1.5 or 1.35 after inhibition of the mitochondrial respiratory chain by rotenone at cytotoxic or noncytotoxic concentrations, respectively. Concomitantly the amount of mitochondrial NADH increased. Excellent linearity between the number of cells incubated with R123 and fluorescence intensity was found in suspension.

A microscopic equipment is reported for examination of cellular autofluorescence and determination of energy transfer in vitro, which is proposed to be an appropriate tool to investigate mitochondrial malfunction. The method includes fluorescence microscopy combined with time-gated (nanosecond) fluorescence emission spectroscopy and is presently used to study mitochondrial metabolism of human myotube primary cultures Enzyme complexes of the respiratory chain, located at the inner mitochondrial membrane, were inhibited by various drugs, and fluorescence of the mitochondrial coenzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) as well as of the mitochondrial marker rhodamine 123 (R123) was examined. After inhibition of enzyme complex I (NADH-coenzyme Q reductase) by rotenone or enzyme complex III (coenzyme QH2-cytochrome c reductase) by antimycin a similar or increased NADH fluorescence was observed. In addition, energy transfer from excited states of NADH (energy donor) to R123 (energy acceptor) was deduced from a decrease of NADH fluorescence after coincubation with these inhibitors and R123. Application of microscopic energy transfer spectroscopy for diagnosis of congenital mitochondrial deficiencies is currently in preparation.

Rhomboid-7 (rho-7) is a mitochondrial-specific intramembranous protease. The loss-of-function mutation rho-7 results in semi-lethality, while escapers have a reduced lifespan with several neurological disorders [1]. Here we show that general, or CNS-specific expression of rho-7 can rescue the lethality of rho-7. General, or CNS-specific over-expression of rho-7 in otherwise wild-type animals caused semi-lethality, with approximately 50% of the animals escaping this lethality, developing into adults displaying a shortened life span with larval locomotory problem. On a cellular level, over-expression resulted in severe depression of ATP levels and cytochrome c oxidase subunit II mRNA levels, a lowered number of mitochondria in neurons and aggregation of mitochondria in the brain indicating mitochondrial malfunction. Over-expression of rho-7 in developing eye discs resulted in an elevated apoptotic index. In the CNS, elevated levels of rho-7 were accompanied by both isoforms of Opa1-like, a dynamin-like GTPase, a mitochondrial component involved in regulating mitochondrial dynamics and function, including apoptosis. Most, but not all, of rho-7 over-expression phenotypes were suppressed by introducing a heterozygous mutation for Opa1-like. Our results suggest that rho-7 and Opa1-like function in a common molecular pathway affecting mitochondrial function and apoptosis in Drosophila melanogaster.

Peroxisomal and mitochondrial malfunction, which are highly intertwined through redox regulation, in combination with defective proteostasis, are hallmarks of the most prevalent multifactorial neurodegenerative diseases-including Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD)-and of the aging process, and are also found in inherited conditions. Here we review the interplay between oxidative stress and axonal degeneration, taking as groundwork recent findings on pathomechanisms of the peroxisomal neurometabolic disease adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD). We explore the impact of chronic redox imbalance caused by the excess of very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFA) on mitochondrial respiration and biogenesis, and discuss how this impairs protein quality control mechanisms essential for neural cell survival, such as the proteasome and autophagy systems. As consequence, prime molecular targets in the pathogenetic cascade emerge, such as the SIRT1/PGC-1α axis of mitochondrial biogenesis, and the inhibitor of autophagy mTOR. Thus, we propose that mitochondria-targeted antioxidants; mitochondrial biogenesis boosters such as the antidiabetic pioglitazone and the SIRT1 ligand resveratrol; and the autophagy activator temsirolimus, a derivative of the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin, hold promise as disease-modifying therapies for X-ALD.

Full Text Available T lymphocyte-mediated pathogenesis is common to a variety of enteropathies, including giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, bacterial enteritis, celiac's disease, food anaphylaxis, and Crohn's disease. In giardiasis as well as in these other disorders, a diffuse loss of microvillous brush border, combined or not with villus atrophy, is responsible for disaccharidase insufficiencies and malabsorption of electrolytes, nutrients, and water, which ultimately cause diarrheal symptoms. Other mucosal changes may include crypt hyperplasia and increased infiltration of intra-epithelial lymphocytes. Recent studies using models of giardiasis have shed new light on the immune regulation of these abnormalities. Indeed, experiments using an athymic mouse model of infection have found that these epithelial injuries were T cell-dependent. Findings from further research indicate that that the loss of brush border surface area, reduced disaccharidase activities, and increase crypt-villus ratios are mediated by CD8+ T cells, whereas both CD8+ and CD4+ small mesenteric lymph node T cells regulate the influx of intra-epithelial lymphocytes. Future investigations need to characterize the CD8+ T cell signaling cascades that ultimately lead to epithelial injury and malfunction in giardiasis and other malabsorptive disorders of the intestine.

The Society for Vascular Surgery surveyed primary care physicians (PCPs) to understand how PCPs make referral decisions for their patients with peripheral vascular disease. Responses were received from 250 PCPs in 44 states. More than 80% of the respondents characterized their experiences with vascular surgeons as positive or very positive. PCPs perceive that vascular surgeons perform "invasive" procedures and refer patients with the most severe vascular disease to vascular surgeons but were more than twice as likely to refer patients to cardiologists, believing they are better able to perform minimally invasive procedures. Nevertheless, PCPs are receptive to the notion of increasing referrals to vascular surgeons. A successful branding campaign will require considerable education of referring physicians about the totality of traditional vascular and endovascular care increasingly provided by the contemporary vascular surgical practice and will be most effective at the local grassroots level.

Bioprosthetic valve thrombosis is uncommon and the diagnosis is often elusive and may be confused with valve degeneration. We report our experience with mitral bioprosthetic valve thrombosis and suggest a therapeutic approach. From 2002 to 2011, 149 consecutive patients who underwent mitral valve replacement with a bioprosthesis at a single center were retrospectively screened for clinical or echocardiographic evidence of valve malfunction. Nine were found to have valve thrombus. All 9 patients had their native valve preserved, representing 24% of those with preserved native valves. Five patients (group 1) presented with symptoms of congestive heart failure at 16.4 ± 12.4 months after surgery. Echocardiogram revealed homogenous echo-dense film on the ventricular surface of the bioprosthesis with elevated transvalvular gradient, resembling early degeneration. The first 2 patients underwent reoperation: valve thrombus was found and confirmed by histologic examination. Based on these, the subsequent 3 patients received anticoagulation treatment with complete thrombus resolution: mean mitral gradient decreased from 23 ± 4 to 6 ± 1 mm Hg and tricuspid regurgitation gradient decreased from 83 ± 20 to 49 ± 5 mm Hg. Four patients (group 2) were asymptomatic, but routine echocardiogram showed a discrete mass on the ventricular aspect of the valve: 1 underwent reoperation to replace the valve and 3 received anticoagulation with complete resolution of the echocardiographic findings. In conclusion, bioprosthetic mitral thrombosis occurs in about 6% of cases. In our experience, onset is early, before anticipated valve degeneration. Clinical awareness followed by an initial trial with anticoagulation is warranted. Surgery should be reserved for those who are not responsive or patients in whom the hemodynamic status does not allow delay. Nonresection of the native valve at the initial operation may play a role in the origin of this entity.

Full Text Available Cell division in yeast is a highly regulated and well studied event. Various checkpoints are placed throughout the cell cycle to ensure faithful segregation of sister chromatids. Unexpected events, such as DNA damage or oxidative stress, cause the activation of checkpoint(s and cell cycle arrest. Malfunction of the checkpoints may induce cell death. We previously showed that under oxidative stress, the budding yeast cohesin Mcd1, a homolog of human Rad21, was cleaved by the caspase-like protease Esp1. The cleaved Mcd1 C-terminal fragment was then translocated to mitochondria, causing apoptotic cell death. In the present study, we demonstrated that Bir1 plays an important role in spindle assembly checkpoint and cell death. Similar to H2O2 treatment, deletion of BIR1 using a BIR1-degron strain caused degradation of the securin Pds1, which binds and inactivates Esp1 until metaphase-anaphase transition in a normal cell cycle. BIR1 deletion caused an increase level of ROS and mis-location of Bub1, a major protein for spindle assembly checkpoint. In wild type, Bub1 was located at the kinetochores, but was primarily in the cytoplasm in bir1 deletion strain. When BIR1 was deleted, addition of nocodazole was unable to retain the Bub1 localization on kietochores, further suggesting that Bir1 is required to activate and maintain the spindle assembly checkpoint. Our study suggests that the BIR1 function in cell cycle regulation works in concert with its anti-apoptosis function.

OBJECT The rate of CSF shunt failure remains unacceptably high. The Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network (HCRN) conducted a comprehensive prospective observational study of hydrocephalus management, the aim of which was to isolate specific risk factors for shunt failure. METHODS The study followed all first-time shunt insertions in children younger than 19 years at 6 HCRN centers. The HCRN Investigator Committee selected, a priori, 21 variables to be examined, including clinical, radiographic, and shunt design variables. Shunt failure was defined as shunt revision, subsequent endoscopic third ventriculostomy, or shunt infection. Important a priori-defined risk factors as well as those significant in univariate analyses were then tested for independence using multivariate Cox proportional hazard modeling. RESULTS A total of 1036 children underwent initial CSF shunt placement between April 2008 and December 2011. Of these, 344 patients experienced shunt failure, including 265 malfunctions and 79 infections. The mean and median length of follow-up for the entire cohort was 400 days and 264 days, respectively. The Cox model found that age younger than 6 months at first shunt placement (HR 1.6 [95% CI 1.1-2.1]), a cardiac comorbidity (HR 1.4 [95% CI 1.0-2.1]), and endoscopic placement (HR 1.9 [95% CI 1.2-2.9]) were independently associated with reduced shunt survival. The following had no independent associations with shunt survival: etiology, payer, center, valve design, valve programmability, the use of ultrasound or stereotactic guidance, and surgeon experience and volume. CONCLUSIONS This is the largest prospective study reported on children with CSF shunts for hydrocephalus. It confirms that a young age and the use of the endoscope are risk factors for first shunt failure and that valve type has no impact. A new risk factor-an existing cardiac comorbidity-was also associated with shunt failure.

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... page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001223.htm Collagen vascular disease To use the sharing features on this ... previously said to have "connective tissue" or "collagen vascular" disease. We now have names for many specific ...

Full Text Available The Bain's co-axial circuit system is fully established in general anaesthesia practice. It is favoured for its light weight and suitability for head and neck surgery. However, there are numerous published reports of malfunction of the inner tube of the Bain's co-axial circuit, with potentially lethal complications for the patient. This report presents a case in which a patient connected to a reused Bain's circuit (Datex-Ohmeda developed severe hypercapnia in the early intraoperative period due to unusual defect of the inner tube. This report tests and outlines the integrity of co-axial circuits and also reviews the available literature.

Full Text Available Gastric antral vascular ectasia is a vascular gastric malformation which represents a rare cause of upper gastrointestinal system bleeding. It is usually presented with a significant anemia and it is diagnosed with an endoscopic examination of the upper gastrointestinal system. It is often associated with other chronic illnesses such as liver cirrhosis, sclerodermia, diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension. It is treated symptomatically in terms of anemia correction with blood transfusions and iron supplements, proton pump inhibitors, beta-blockers and endoscopic procedures such as argon plasma coagulation which currently represents the treatment of choice in Sy. GAVE cases.

Although the aldosterone escape mechanism is well known, aldosterone has often been neglected in the pathophysiologic consequences of the activated renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in arterial hypertension and chronic heart failure. There is now evidence for vascular synthesis of aldosterone aside from its secretion by the adrenal cortex. Moreover, aldosterone is involved in vascular smooth muscle cell hypertrophy and hyperplasia, as well as in vascular matrix impairment and endothelial dysfunction. The mechanisms of action of aldosterone may be either delayed (genomic) or rapid (nongenomic). Deleterious effects of aldosterone leading to vascular target-organ damage include (besides salt and water retention) decreased arterial and venous compliance, increased peripheral vascular resistance, and impaired autonomic vascular control due to baroreflex dysfunction.

Cerebrovascular disease typically manifests with stroke, cognitive impairment, or both. Vascular cognitive impairment refers to all forms of cognitive disorder associated with cerebrovascular disease, regardless of the specific mechanisms involved. It encompasses the full range of cognitive deficits from mild cognitive impairment to dementia. In principle, any of the multiple causes of clinical stroke can cause vascular cognitive impairment. Recent work further highlights a role of microinfarcts, microhemorrhages, strategic white matter tracts, loss of microstructural tissue integrity, and secondary neurodegeneration. Vascular brain injury results in loss of structural and functional connectivity and, hence, compromise of functional networks within the brain. Vascular cognitive impairment is common both after stroke and in stroke-free individuals presenting to dementia clinics, and vascular pathology frequently coexists with neurodegenerative pathology, resulting in mixed forms of mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Vascular dementia is now recognized as the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's disease, and there is increasing awareness that targeting vascular risk may help to prevent dementia, even of the Alzheimer type. Recent advances in neuroimaging, neuropathology, epidemiology, and genetics have led to a deeper understanding of how vascular disease affects cognition. These new findings provide an opportunity for the present reappraisal of vascular cognitive impairment. We further briefly address current therapeutic concepts.

Full Text Available A 65 year old lady presented with generalised pruritus and discolouration of skin and mucous membranes of 5 years duration. The histopathology from the cutaneous lesions revealed features suggestive of poikiloderma vasculare atrophicans (PVA. Investigations did not reveal any underlying connective tissue disease,lymphoma or systemic disease. A diagnosis of idiopathic poikiloderma vasculare atrophicans was made.

The exact pathophysiology of glaucoma is not fully understood. Understanding of the vascular pathophysiology of glaucoma requires: knowing the techniques for measuring ocular blood flow and characterizing the topography of vascular disease and the mechanisms involved in this neuropathy. A decreased mean ocular perfusion pressure and a loss of vascular autoregulation are implicated in glaucomatous disease. Early decrease in ocular blood flow has been identified in primary open-angle glaucoma and normal pressure glaucoma, contributing to the progression of optic neuropathy. The vascular damage associated with glaucoma is present in various vascular territories within the eye (from the ophthalmic artery to the retina) and is characterized by a decrease in basal blood flow associated with a dysfunction of vasoregulation.

Full Text Available Vascular dementia (VaD is the second most frequent dementia after Alzheimer’s disease, and is diagnosed during lifetime in 20% of demented patients. Five­year survival rate in VaD is 39%, while it is estimated to be 75% in healthy persons of the same age. It is therefore important to make correct diagnosis of VaD early in the course of the disease. Risk factors for VaD are identical to stroke risk factors, and there are significant possibilities for the prevention of vascular cognitive decline. Cognitive decline develops acutely or step­by­step within three months after stroke, but more gradual progression of intellectual decline is also possible. Neurological examination can reveal pyramidal and extrapyramidal signs, pseudobulbar palsy, gait disturbance and urinary incontinence. Neuropsychological profile comprises the loss of cognitive set shifting, decline in word fluency, verbal learning difficulties, perseverations, difficulties in complex figure copying, and in patients with cortically located lesions also problems with speech and praxia. The basis of the diagnosis is, besides history, neurological examination and neuropsychological assessment, computed tomography and/ or magnetic resonance brain imaging. Vascular risk factors control is the most important measure in VaD prevention. Modern guidelines for the treatment of cognitive decline in VaD emphasize that donepezil can be useful in the improvement of cognitive status at the level of Class IIa recommendation at the level of evidence A, while memantine may be useful in patients with mixed VaD and Alzheimer’s disease dementia. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 175022 i br. 175033

High frequency electromagnetic fields in the 120 kHz band emitted from card readers for access control systems in radiation control areas cause abnormally high and erroneous indicated dose readings on semiconductor-type electronic personal dosimeters (SEPDs). All SEPDs malfunctioned but recovered their normal performance by resetting after the exposure ceased. The minimum distances required to prevent electromagnetic interference varied from 5.0 to 38.0 cm. The electric and magnetic immunity levels ranged from 35.1 to 267.6 V m(-1) and from 1.0 to 16.6 A m(-1), respectively. Electromagnetic immunity levels of SEPDs should be strengthened from the standpoint of radiation protection.

Leguminous plants develop root nodules in symbiosis with soil rhizobia. Nodule formation occurs following rhizobial infection of the host root that induces dedifferentiation of some cortical cells and the initiation of a new developmental program to form nodule primordia. In a recent study, we identified a novel gene, TRICOT (TCO), that acts as a positive regulator of nodulation in Lotus japonicus. In addition to its role in nodulation, tco mutant plants display pleiotropic defects including abnormal shoot apical meristem formation. Here, we investigated the effect of the tco mutation on nodulation using a grafting approach. The results strongly indicate that the nodulation-deficient phenotype of the mutant results from malfunction of the TCO gene in the root.

A case of Bjork-Shiley mitral valve dysfunction is presented. The patient has not responded to anticoagulant therapy and had hypotension, dyspnea, chest pain, and a pulse deficit but normal sinus rhythm. Simultaneous echocardiogram, ECG, and arterial pulse tracing were used as noninvasive means of monitoring. Nonsurgical correction of a clinical emergency restored the patient to prior normal baseline cardiovascular function. This case illustrates the possibility of restoring normal prosthetic function by supporting the patient medically while undertaking diagnostic testing and arranging surgical intervention. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a malfunctioning Bjork-Shiley mitral valve corrected without surgery.

Full Text Available A 4-year-old girl with a solitary vascular anomaly of the mesentery presented with acute lower abdominal pain. Despite the use of ultrasound, computed tomography scan and image-guided core biopsies, the lesion was initially mistaken for an inflammatory intra-abdominal mass. The correct diagnosis was made at laparotomy. Solitary vascular anomaly of the mesentery is rare and its presentation as an acute abdomen has not been reported before.

Full Text Available Malfunction identification in rotor systems by means of a model based approach in the frequency domain during long lasting speed transients (coast-down procedures in large turbo-generators, where a huge amount of vibration data at different rotating speeds is usually collected, has proved to be very effective. This paper explores the possibility to adapt this method to the situation when the vibration data are available at one rotating speed only, which in real machines is generally the normal operating speed. It results that single speed fault identification can be successful, but does not allow to discriminate between different malfunctions that generate similar symptoms. Neverthless the identification results can be used to define corrective balancing masses.

effects of histamine are mediated via H1 and H2 receptors and the actions are modulated by H3 receptor subtype ... Keywords: Histamine, Vascular smooth muscle, Endothelium .... responses to histamine, but not those to acetylcholine, were.

There is an age related decline in various physiological processes. Vascular ageing is associated with changes in the mechanical and the structural properties of the vascular wall, which leads to the loss of arterial elasticity and reduced arterial compliance. Arterial compliance can be measured by different parameters like pulse wave velocity, augmentation index, and systemic arterial compliance. There is evidence that arterial compliance is reduced in disease states such as hypertension, di...

Availability of a proper vascular access is a basic condition for a proper extracorporeal replacement in end-stage chronic renal failure. However, biological factors, management and other problems, may variously condition their middle-long term survival. Therefore, personal experience of over 25 years has been critically reviewed in order to obtain useful information. In particular "hard" situations necessitating complex procedures have been examined but, if possible, preserving the peripherical vascular features.

Dealing with vascular compression syndromes is one of the most challenging tasks in Vascular Medicine practice. This heterogeneous group of disorders is characterised by external compression of primarily healthy arteries and/or veins as well as accompanying nerval structures, carrying the risk of subsequent structural vessel wall and nerve damage. Vascular compression syndromes may severely impair health-related quality of life in affected individuals who are typically young and otherwise healthy. The diagnostic approach has not been standardised for any of the vascular compression syndromes. Moreover, some degree of positional external compression of blood vessels such as the subclavian and popliteal vessels or the celiac trunk can be found in a significant proportion of healthy individuals. This implies important difficulties in differentiating physiological from pathological findings of clinical examination and diagnostic imaging with provocative manoeuvres. The level of evidence on which treatment decisions regarding surgical decompression with or without revascularisation can be relied on is generally poor, mostly coming from retrospective single centre studies. Proper patient selection is critical in order to avoid overtreatment in patients without a clear association between vascular compression and clinical symptoms. With a focus on the thoracic outlet-syndrome, the median arcuate ligament syndrome and the popliteal entrapment syndrome, the present article gives a selective literature review on compression syndromes from an interdisciplinary vascular point of view.

Full Text Available Abstract Background Thoracic injuries play an important role in major trauma patients due to their high incidence and critical relevance. A serious consequence of thoracic trauma is pneumothorax, a condition that quickly can become life-threatening and requires immediate treatment. Decompression is the state of the art for treating tension pneumothorax. There are many different methods of decompression using different techniques, devices, valves and drainage systems. Referring to our case report we would like to discuss the utilization of these devices. Case presentation We report of a patient suffering from tension pneumothorax despite insertion of a chest drain at the accident scene. The decompression was by tube thoracostomy which was connected to a Heimlich flutter valve. During air transportation the patient suffered from cardiorespiratory arrest with asystole and was admitted to the trauma room undergoing manual chest compressions. The initial chest film showed a persisting tension pneumothorax, despite the chest tube that had been correctly placed and connected properly to the Heimlich valve. We assume that the Heimlich valve leaves did not open up and thus tension pneumothorax was not released. Conclusion We would like to raise awareness to the fact that if a Heimlich flutter valve is applied in the pre-hospital setting it should be used with caution. Failure in this type of valve may lead to recurrent tension pneumothorax.

Plant vascular tissues are essential for the existence of land plants. Many studies of transcriptional regulation and cell-cell communication have revealed the process underlying the development of vascular tissues from vascular initial cells. However, the initiation of vascular cell differentiation is still a mystery. Here, we report that LONESOME HIGHWAY (LHW), which encodes a bHLH transcription factor, is expressed in pericycle-vascular mother cells at the globular embryo stage and is required for proper asymmetric cell division to generate vascular initial cells. In addition, ectopic expression of LHW elicits an ectopic auxin response. Moreover, LHW is required for the correct expression patterns of components related to auxin flow, such as PIN-FORMED 1 (PIN1), MONOPTEROS (MP) and ATHB-8, and ATHB-8 partially rescues the vascular defects of lhw. These results suggest that LHW functions as a key regulator to initiate vascular cell differentiation in association with auxin regulation.

Oxygen free radicals and other reactive oxygen species (ROS) are common products of normal aerobic cellular metabolism, but high levels of ROS lead to oxidative stress and cellular damage. Increased production of ROS favors vascular dysfunction, inducing altered vascular permeability and inflammation, accompanied by the loss of vascular modulatory function, the imbalance between vasorelaxation and vasoconstriction, and the aberrant expression of inflammatory adhesion molecules. Inflammatory stimuli promote oxidative stress generated from the increased activity of mitochondrial nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase, particularly of the Nox4 isoform, with the consequent impairment of mitochondrial β-oxidation. Vascular dysfunction due to the increase in Nox4 activity and ROS overproduction leads to the progression of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and neurological disorders. Considerable research into the development of effective antioxidant therapies using natural derivatives or new synthetic molecules has been conducted. Antioxidants may prevent cellular damage by reducing ROS overproduction or interfering in reactions that involve ROS. Vitamin E and ascorbic acid are well known as natural antioxidants that counteract lipid peroxidative damage by scavenging oxygen-derived free radicals, thus restoring vascular function. Recently, preliminary studies on natural antioxidants such as goji berries, thymus, rosemary, green tea ginseng, and garlic have been conducted for their efficacy in preventing vascular damage. N-acetyl-cysteine and propionyl-L-carnitine are synthetic compounds that regulate ROS production by replacing endogenous antioxidants in both endothelial and smooth muscle cells. In this review, we consider the molecular mechanisms underlying the generation of oxidative stress-induced vascular dysfunction as well as the beneficial effects of antioxidant therapies.

Full Text Available Background/Aim. Dysautonomia appears in almost all patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD in a certain stage of their condition. The aim of our study was to detect the development and type of autonomic disorders, find out the factors affecting their manifestation by analyzing the potential association with demographic variables related to clinical presentation, as well as the symptoms of the disease in a PD patient cohort. Methods. The patients with PD treated at the Clinic of Neurology in Belgrade during a 2-year period, divided into 3 groups were studied: 25 de novo patients, 25 patients already treated and had no long-term levodopa therapy-related complications and 22 patients treated with levodopa who manifested levodopa-induced motor complications. Simultaneously, 35 healthy control subjects, matched by age and sex, were also analyzed. Results. Autonomic nervous system malfunction was defined by Ewing diagnostic criteria. The tests, indicators of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, were significantly different in the PD patients as compared with the controls, suggesting the failure of both systems. However, it was shown, in the selected groups of patients, that the malfunction of both systems was present in two treated groups of PD patients, while de novo group manifested only sympathetic dysfunction. For this reason, the complete autonomic neuropathy was diagnosed only in the treated PD patients, while de novo patients were defined as those with the isolated sympathetic dysfunction. The patients with the complete autonomic neuropathy differed from the subjects without such neuropathy in higher cumulative and motor unified Parkinson’s disease rating score (UPDRS (p < 0.01, activities of daily living scores (p < 0.05, Schwab-England scale (p < 0.001 and Hoehn-Yahr scale. There was no difference between the patients in other clinical-demographic characteristics (sex, age at the time of diagnosis, actual age, duration of

There is an age related decline in various physiological processes. Vascular ageing is associated with changes in the mechanical and the structural properties of the vascular wall, which leads to the loss of arterial elasticity and reduced arterial compliance. Arterial compliance can be measured by different parameters like pulse wave velocity, augmentation index, and systemic arterial compliance. There is evidence that arterial compliance is reduced in disease states such as hypertension, diabetes, and end stage renal failure. Changes in arterial compliance can be present before the clinical manifestation of cardiovascular disease. Pharmacological and non‐pharmacological measures have been shown to improve arterial compliance. Arterial compliance may constitute an early cardiovascular risk marker and may be useful in assessing the effects of drugs on the cardiovascular system. Pharmacogenetics and genetics of arterial compliance in the future will improve our knowledge and understanding about vascular ageing. PMID:16754702

Full Text Available ... Corrective Jaw Surgery Corrective Jaw Surgery Orthognathic surgery is performed to correct the misalignment of jaws and ... Implant Surgery Dental Implant Surgery Dental implant surgery is, of course, surgery, and is best performed by ...

Full Text Available ... and Craniofacial Surgery Cleft Lip/Palate and Craniofacial Surgery A cleft lip may require one or more ... find out more. Corrective Jaw Surgery Corrective Jaw Surgery Orthognathic surgery is performed to correct the misalignment ...

... and Craniofacial Surgery Cleft Lip/Palate and Craniofacial Surgery A cleft lip may require one or more ... find out more. Corrective Jaw Surgery Corrective Jaw Surgery Orthognathic surgery is performed to correct the misalignment ...

Diabetic neuropathy subsequent to chronic high blood glucose-induced nerve damage is one of the most frustrating and debilitating complications of diabetes, which affects the quality of life in patients with diabetes. Approximately 60-70% of patients with diabetes suffer from a distal symmetrical form of mild to severe neuropathy that progresses in a fiber-length-dependent pattern, with sensory and autonomic manifestations predominating. High glucose and oxidative stress-mediated damage in neurons and glial cells, as well as neuroinflammation and crosstalk between these disease processes, have garnered immense attention as the essential mechanisms underlying the development and progression of diabetic neuropathy. Although the metabolic causes of diabetic neuropathy are well understood and documented, treatment options for this disorder are still limited, highlighting the need for further studies to identify new molecular and therapeutic targets. This review covers recent advances in our knowledge of the pathophysiology of diabetic neuropathy, discusses how persistent hyperglycemic conditions and malfunctioning glia drive disease progression, and finally explores the possibilities and challenges offered by several potential novel therapeutic targets for both preventing and reversing diabetic neuropathy.

Many dermatologic diseases, including vitiligo and other pigmentary disorders, vascular malformations, acne, and disfiguring scars from surgery or trauma, can be distressing to pediatric patients and can cause psychological alterations such as depression, loss of self-esteem, deterioration of quality of life, emotional distress, and, in some cases, body dysmorphic disorder. Corrective camouflage can help cover cutaneous unaesthetic disorders using a variety of water-resistant and light to very opaque products that provide effective and natural coverage. These products also can serve as concealers during medical treatment or after surgical procedures before healing is complete. Between May 2001 and July 2003. corrective camouflage was used on 15 children and adolescents (age range, 7-16 years; mean age, 14 years). The majority of patients were girls. Six patients had acne vulgaris; 4 had vitiligo; 2 had Becker nevus; and 1 each had striae distensae, allergic contact dermatitis. and postsurgical scarring. Parents of all patients were satisfied with the cosmetic cover results. We consider corrective makeup to be a well-received and valid adjunctive therapy for use during traditional long-term treatment and as a therapeutic alternative in patients in whom conventional therapy is ineffective.

Background Interventional therapy is widely accepted as the first choice for the treatment of the Budd-Chiari syndrome,but the use of radical correctional therapy should not be discarded. This study describes radical correction by controlling bleeding from distal end of pathological segment of the inferior vena cava (IVC) and discusses potential surgical errors and postoperative complications.Methods Of the 216 patients in the study, 78 were treated with simple membranectomy, 64 with dissection of the pathological segment of the IVC and vascular prosthesis or pericardial patch plasty, 60 with resection of the pathological segment of the IVC and orthotopic graft transplantation with vascular prosthesis, and 14 with resection of the occlusive main hepatic vein and its upper IVC, hepatic venous outflow plasty and vascular prosthesis orthotopic graft transplantation from the hepatic venous entrance to the IVC of right atrial ostium.Results Except 14 cases who were discharged after hepatic vein outflow plasty, four cases died postoperatively, and 198 patients were discharged without complications. The symptoms of 15 patients were relieved partially and 2 without any change. There were no deaths intraoperatively. Of the 112 cases who were followed up for 72 months, 13 suffered from a relapse.Conclusions Radical correction is a beneficial therapy in the treatment of Budd-Chiari syndrome.

Vascular tissues in plants are crucial to provide physical support and to transport water, sugars and hormones and other small signalling molecules throughout the plant. Recent genetic and molecular studies have identified interconnections among some of the major signalling networks that regulate

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION Despite high graft and recipient survival figures worldwide today, a variety of technical complications can threaten the transplant in the postoperative period. Vascular complications are commonly related to technical problems in establishing vascular continuity or to damage that occurs during donor nephrectomy or preservation [13]. AIM The aim of the presenting study is to evaluate counts and rates of vascular complications after renal transplantation and to compare the outcome by donor type. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 463 kidneys (319 from living related donor LD and 144 from cadaveric donor - CD were transplanted during the period between June 1975 and December 1998 at the Urology & Nephrology Institute of Clinical Centre of Serbia in Belgrade. Average recipients' age was 33.7 years (15-54 in LD group and 39.8 (19-62 in CD group. Retrospectively, we analyzed medical records of all recipients. Statistical analysis is estimated using Hi-squared test and Fischer's test of exact probability. RESULTS Major vascular complications including vascular anastomosis thrombosis, internal iliac artery stenosis, internal iliac artery rupture obliterant vasculitis and external iliac vein rupture were analyzed. In 25 recipients (5.4% some of major vascular complications were detected. Among these cases, 22 of them were from CD group vs. three from LD group. Relative rate of these complications was higher in CD group vs. LD group (p<0.0001. Among these complications dominant one was vascular anastomosis thrombosis which occurred in 18 recipients (17 from CD vs. one from LD. Of these recipients 16 from CD lost the graft, while the rest of two (one from each group had lethal outcome. DISCUSSION Thrombosis of renal allograft vascular anastomosis site is the most severe complication following renal transplantation. In the literature, renal allograft thrombosis is reported with different incidence rates, from 0.5-4% [14, 15, 16]. Data from the

通过分析一起发电机纵差保护误动的原因，对差动保护两侧电流互感器的特性、差动回路阻抗进行比较，并全面复核保护定值，以避免在区外故障时，差动回路中产生不平衡电流，发生保护误动作。%Based on the cause analysis of the malfunction of the longitudinal differential protection of a generator,this essay compares the featm's and the differential circuit impedances between the two current transformers of the dif ferential protection. Besides, it also rechecks the fixed value of the protection to avoid protection malfunctions caused by unbalanced current in the differential circuit beyond the relay protection zone.

Management of vascular traumas is frequently delayed. Vascular injuries after elective operation for bone lengthening or correction of a deformity are very'rare situations. We describe 3 cases. Case 1: male, aged 22, undergoing corticotomy for bone lengthening; immediately presented acute limb ischaemia due to a partial lesion of the popliteal artery, documented by U.S. After 7 h, direct reconstruction of the artery and fasciotomies were performed. Case 2: male, aged 27, undergoing directional osteotomy for genu varus correction. For 30 days, constant increase in leg volume and decrease in function. US showed an important haematoma at the popliteal level; arteriography documented a partial lesion of the infra-genicular popliteal artery and a voluminous false aneurysm. Direct correction of the artery and fasciotomies were performed. Case 3: male, aged 22, undergoing corticotomy for leg lengthening; immediately presented leg pain with decreased distal pulses. After 4h, there was an increase in leg volume, and arteriography showed a total lesion of the infra-genicular popliteal artery and an arteriovenous fistula. Popliteo-tibial bypass with the contralateral greater saphenous vein and fasciotomies were performed. After 1 month endovascular closure of the fistula was obtained. All patients had recovered after two months with only minor leg insufficiency. Patency of the bypass and absence of infections or delayed false aneurysms were achieved. Vascular injuries after elective orthopaedic procedures are very rare situations. Such lesions are caused by an osteotomy via corticotomy performed percutaneously. The variety of clinical presentations accounts for the difficulty in diagnosing such lesions and for the delays in implementing treatment. It is very important to obtain an early diagnosis complete with an arteriography.

Full Text Available Objective. The objective was to define and evaluate a role for the Vascular Neurology-Nurse Practitioner (VN-NP in the delivery of telemedicine consultations in partnership with a vascular neurologist. Methods. Prospective stroke alert patients at participating hospitals underwent a two-way audio video telemedicine consultation with a VN-NP at a remotely located stroke center in partnership with a vascular neurologist. Demographic information, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS scores, diagnoses, CT contraindications to thrombolysis, thrombolysis eligibility, and time interval data were collected. The inter-rater agreement between VN-NP and vascular neurologist assessments was calculated. Results. Ten patients were evaluated. Four were determined to have ischemic stroke, one had a transient ischemic attack, two had intracerebral hemorrhages, and three were stroke mimics. Overall, three patients received thrombolysis. The inter-rater agreement between VN-NP and vascular neurologist assessments were excellent, ranging from 0.9 to 1.0. The duration of VN-NP consultation was 53.2±9.0 minutes, which included the vascular neurologist supervisory evaluation time of 12.0±9.6 minutes. Conclusion. This study illustrated that a stroke center VN-NP, in partnership with a vascular neurologist, could deliver timely telemedicine consultations, accurate diagnoses, and correct treatments in acute stroke patients who presented to remotely located rural emergency departments within a hub and spoke network. VN-NPs may fulfill the role of a telestroke provider.

One of the major obstacles in engineering thick, complex tissues such as muscle is the need to vascularize the tissue in vitro. Vascularization in vitro could maintain cell viability during tissue growth, induce structural organization and promote vascularization upon implantation. Here we describe

Pronounced neuropathology is a feature of ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) and Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS), which are both genomic instability syndromes. The Nbs1 protein, which is defective in NBS, is a component of the Mre11/RAD50/NBS1 (MRN) complex. This complex plays a major role in the early phase of the cellular response to double strand breaks (DSBs) in the DNA. Among others, MRN is required for timely activation of the protein kinase ATM (A-T mutated), which is disrupted in patients with A-T. Earlier reports show that Atm-deficient mice exhibit severe degeneration of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive dopaminergic nigro-striatal neurons and their terminals in the striatum. This cell loss is accompanied by a large reduction in immunoreactivity for the dopamine transporter protein (DAT) in the striatum. To test whether Nbs1 inactivation also affects the integrity of the nigro-striatal pathway, we examined this pathway in a murine model with conditional inactivation of the Nbs1 gene in central nervous system (Nbs1-CNS-Δ). We report that this model has a reduction in TH-positive cells in the substantia nigra. This phenomenon was seen at very early age, while Atm-/- mice showed a progressive age-dependent reduction. Furthermore, we observed an age-dependent increase in the level of TH in the striatum of Atm-/- and Nbs1-CNS-Δ mice. In addition to the altered expression of TH, we also found a reduction of DAT in the striatum of both Atm-/- and Nbs1-CNS-Δ mice at 60 days of age. Finally, microglial recruitment and alterations in the levels of various neurotrophic factors were also observed. These results indicate that malfunctioning DNA damage response severely affects the integrity of the nigro-striatal pathway and suggest a new neurodegenerative pathway in Parkinsonian syndromes.

Endothelium is an important regulator of selective permeability of the vascular wall for different molecules and cells. This review summarizes current data on endothelial barrier function. Endothelial glycocalyx structure, its function and role in the molecular transport and leukocytes migration across the endothelial barrier are discussed. The mechanisms of transcellular transport of macromolecules and cell migration through endothelial cells are reviewed. Special section of this article addresses the structure and function of tight and adherens endothelial junction, as well as their importance for the regulation of paracellular transport across the endothelial barrier. Particular attention is paid to the signaling mechanism of endothelial barrier function regulation and the factors that influence on the vascular permeability.

This grant supported the Second International Conference on Plant Vascular Biology (PVB 2010) held July 24-28, 2010 on the campus of Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. Biao Ding (Ohio State University; OSU) and David Hannapel (Iowa State University; ISU) served as co-chairs of this conference. Biao Ding served as the local organizer. PVB is defined broadly here to include studies on the biogenesis, structure and function of transport systems in plants, under conditions of normal plant growth and development as well as of plant interactions with pathogens. The transport systems cover broadly the xylem, phloem, plasmodesmata and vascular cell membranes. The PVB concept has emerged in recent years to emphasize the integrative nature of the transport systems and approaches to investigate them.

The vasculature delivers vital support for all other tissues by supplying oxygen and nutrients for growth and by transporting the immune cells that protect and cure them. Therefore, the microvasculature developed a special barrier that is permissive for gasses like oxygen and carbon dioxide, while fluids are kept inside and pathogens are kept out. While maintaining this tight barrier, the vascular wall also allows immune cells to exit at sites of inflammation or damage, a process that is call...

Melatonin, or N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine, is a compound derived from tryptophan that is found in all organisms from unicells to vertebrates. This indoleamine may act as a protective agent in disease conditions such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, aging, sepsis and other disorders including ischemia/reperfusion. In addition, melatonin has been proposed as a drug for the treatment of cancer. These disorders have in common a dysfunction of the apoptotic program. Thus, while defects which reduce apoptotic processes can exaggerate cancer, neurodegenerative disorders and ischemic conditions are made worse by enhanced apoptosis. The mechanism by which melatonin controls cell death is not entirely known. Recently, mitochondria, which are implicated in the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis, have been identified as a target for melatonin actions. It is known that melatonin scavenges oxygen and nitrogen-based reactants generated in mitochondria. This limits the loss of the intramitochondrial glutathione and lowers mitochondrial protein damage, improving electron transport chain (ETC) activity and reducing mtDNA damage. Melatonin also increases the activity of the complex I and complex IV of the ETC, thereby improving mitochondrial respiration and increasing ATP synthesis under normal and stressful conditions. These effects reflect the ability of melatonin to reduce the harmful reduction in the mitochondrial membrane potential that may trigger mitochondrial transition pore (MTP) opening and the apoptotic cascade. In addition, a reported direct action of melatonin in the control of currents through the MTP opens a new perspective in the understanding of the regulation of apoptotic cell death by the indoleamine.

A novel fault detection and diagnosis method was proposed,using dynamic simulation to monitor chemical process and identify faults when large tracking deviations occur.It aims at parameter failures,and the parameters are updated via on-line correction.As it can predict the trend of process and determine the existence of malfunctions simultaneously,this method does not need to design problem-specific observer to estimate unmeasured state variables.Application of the proposed method is presented on one water tank and one aromatization reactor,and the results are compared with those from the traditional method.

... any small movements of your head and the robot will correct for these small movements to ensure ... by Please note RadiologyInfo.org is not a medical facility. Please contact your physician with specific medical ...

.... After six months from removing of the mass, the penile elongation and penile enlargement were stable, the prostheses were correctly functioning and the patient was satisfied with his sexual intercourse and life...

One of the leading causes of death in the world is cerebrovascular disease. Numerous Chinese traditional medicines, such as Cortex Moutan (root bark of Paeonia suffruticosa Andrew) and Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae (root and rhizome of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge), protect against cerebrovascular diseases and exhibit anti-atherosclerotic effects. Traditional medicines have been routinely used for a long time in China. In addition, these two herbs are prescribed together in clinical practice. Therefore, the pharmacodynamic interactions between the active constituents of these two herbs, which are paeonol (Pae) and danshensu (DSS), should be particularly studied. The study of Pae and DSS can provide substantial foundations in understanding their mechanisms and empirical evidence to support clinical practice. This study investigated the effects and possible mechanisms of the pharmacodynamic interaction between Pae and DSS on cerebrovascular malfunctioning in diabetes. Experimental diabetes was induced in rats, which was then treated with Pae, DSS, and Pae + DSS for eight weeks. Afterward, cerebral arteries from all groups were isolated and equilibrated in an organ bath with Krebs buffer and ring tension. Effects of Pae, DSS, and Pae + DSS were observed on vessel relaxation with or without endothelium as well as on the basal tonus of vessels from normal and diabetic rats. Indexes about oxidative stress were also determined. We report that the cerebral arteries from diabetic rats show decreased vascular reactivity to acetylcholine (ACh) which was corrected in Pae, DSS, and Pae + DSS treated groups. Furthermore, phenylephrine (PE)-induced contraction response decreased in the treated groups. Phenylephrine and CaCl(2)-induced vasoconstrictions are partially inhibited in the three treated groups under Ca2+-free medium. Pre-incubated with tetraethylammonium, a non-selective K+ channel blocker, the antagonized relaxation responses increased in DSS and Pae + DSS treated diabetic

Full Text Available One of the leading causes of death in the world is cerebrovascular disease. Numerous Chinese traditional medicines, such as Cortex Moutan (root bark of Paeonia suffruticosa Andrew and Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae (root and rhizome of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, protect against cerebrovascular diseases and exhibit anti-atherosclerotic effects. Traditional medicines have been routinely used for a long time in China. In addition, these two herbs are prescribed together in clinical practice. Therefore, the pharmacodynamic interactions between the active constituents of these two herbs, which are paeonol (Pae and danshensu (DSS, should be particularly studied. The study of Pae and DSS can provide substantial foundations in understanding their mechanisms and empirical evidence to support clinical practice. This study investigated the effects and possible mechanisms of the pharmacodynamic interaction between Pae and DSS on cerebrovascular malfunctioning in diabetes. Experimental diabetes was induced in rats, which was then treated with Pae, DSS, and Pae + DSS for eight weeks. Afterward, cerebral arteries from all groups were isolated and equilibrated in an organ bath with Krebs buffer and ring tension. Effects of Pae, DSS, and Pae + DSS were observed on vessel relaxation with or without endothelium as well as on the basal tonus of vessels from normal and diabetic rats. Indexes about oxidative stress were also determined. We report that the cerebral arteries from diabetic rats show decreased vascular reactivity to acetylcholine (ACh which was corrected in Pae, DSS, and Pae + DSS treated groups. Furthermore, phenylephrine (PE-induced contraction response decreased in the treated groups. Phenylephrine and CaCl2-induced vasoconstrictions are partially inhibited in the three treated groups under Ca2+-free medium. Pre-incubated with tetraethylammonium, a non-selective K+ channel blocker, the antagonized relaxation responses increased in DSS and Pae + DSS

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Form B-14 is the National Weather Service form entitled 'Notice of Corrections to Weather Records.' The forms are used to make corrections to observations on forms...

Speculation as to optical malfunction has led to dissatisfaction with the theory that the lens is the sole agent in accommodation and to the suggestion that other parts of the eye are also conjointly involved. Around half-a-century ago, Robert Brooks Simpkins suggested that the mechanical features of the human eye were precisely such as to allow for a lengthening of the globe when the eye accommodated. Simpkins was not an optical man but his theory is both imaginative and comprehensive and deserves consideration. It is submitted here that accommodation is in fact a twofold process, and that although involving the lens, is achieved primarily by means of a give - and - take interplay between adducting and abducting external muscles, whereby an elongation of the eyeball is brought about by a stretching of the delicate elastic fibres immediately behind the cornea. The three muscles responsible for convergence (superior, internal and inferior recti) all pull from in front backwards, while of the three abductors (external rectus and the two obliques) the obliques pull from behind forwards, allowing for an easy elongation as the eye turns inwards and a return to its original length as the abducting muscles regain their former tension, returning the eye to distance vision. In refractive errors, the altered length of the eyeball disturbs the harmonious give - and - take relationship between adductors and abductors. Such stresses are likely to be perpetuated and the error exacerbated. Speculation is not directed towards a search for a possible cause of the muscular imbalance, since none is suspected. Muscles not used rapidly lose tone, as evidenced after removal of a limb from plaster. Early attention to the need for restorative exercise is essential and results usually impressive. If flexibility of the external muscles of the eyes is essential for continuing good sight, presbyopia can be avoided and with it the supposed necessity of glasses in middle life. Early attention

Error correction is an important issue in foreign language acquisition. This paper investigates how students feel about the way in which error correction should take place in a Chinese-as-a foreign-language classroom, based on empirical data of a large scale. The study shows that there is a general consensus that error correction is necessary. In terms of correction strategy, the students preferred a combination of direct and indirect corrections, or a direct only correction. The former choice indicates that students would be happy to take either so long as the correction gets done.Most students didn't mind peer correcting provided it is conducted in a constructive way. More than halfofthe students would feel uncomfortable ifthe same error they make in class is corrected consecutively more than three times. Taking these findings into consideration, we may want to cncourage peer correcting, use a combination of correction strategies (direct only if suitable) and do it in a non-threatening and sensitive way. It is hoped that this study would contribute to the effectiveness of error correction in a Chinese language classroom and it may also have a wider implication on other languages.

This review focuses on the stem cell sources with the potential to be used in vascular tissue engineering and to promote vascular regeneration. The first clinical studies using tissue-engineered vascular grafts are already under way, supporting the potential of this technology in the treatment of cardiovascular and other diseases. Despite progress in engineering biomaterials with the appropriate mechanical properties and biological cues as well as bioreactors for generating the correct tissue microenvironment, the source of cells that make up the vascular tissues remains a major challenge for tissue engineers and physicians. Mature cells from the tissue of origin may be difficult to obtain and suffer from limited proliferative capacity, which may further decline as a function of donor age. On the other hand, multipotent and pluripotent stem cells have great potential to provide large numbers of autologous cells with a great differentiation capacity. Here, we discuss the adult multipotent as well as embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, their differentiation potential toward vascular lineages, and their use in engineering functional and implantable vascular tissues. We also discuss the associated challenges that need to be addressed in order to facilitate the transition of this technology from the bench to the bedside. PMID:22571595

AIM: The Danish Vascular Registry (DVR), Karbase, is monitoring arterial and advanced vein interventions conducted at all vascular departments in Denmark. The main aim of the DVR is to improve the quality of treatment for patients undergoing vascular surgery in Denmark by using the registry...... for quality assessment and research. STUDY POPULATION: All patients undergoing vascular interventions (surgical and endovascular) at any vascular department in Denmark are registered in the DVR. The DVR was initiated in 1989, and each year, ∼9,000 procedures are added. By January 2016, >180,000 procedures...... are submitted. Variables for medical treatment (antithrombotic and statin treatment), amputation, and survival are extracted from nationwide, administrative registers. CONCLUSION: The DVR reports outcome on key indicators for monitoring the quality at all vascular departments in Denmark for the purpose...

OBJECTTVE: To explain the association between vascular dementia and the cranial MRI manifestations, and recognize the value of cranial MRI in the early diagnosis of vascular dementia and the assessment of disease conditions.DATA SOURCES: Pubmed database was searched to identify articles about the cranial MRI manifestations of patients with vascular dementia published in English from January 1992 to June 2006 by using the key words of "MRI, vascular dementia". Others were collected by searching the name of journals and title of articles in the Chinese full-text journal database.STUDY SELECTTON: The collected articles were primarily checked, those correlated with the cranial MRI manifestations of patients with vascular dementia were selected, while the obviously irrelative ones were excluded, and the rest were retrieved manually, the full-texts were searched.DATA EXTRACTION: Totally 255 articles were collected, 41 of them were involved, and the other 214 were excluded.DATA SYNTHESIS: MRI can be taken as one of the effective methods for the early diagnosis and disease evaluation of vascular dementia. White matter lesions are the important risk factors of vascular dementia.Vascular dementia is accompanied by the atrophy of related brain sites, but further confirmation is needed to investigate whether there is significant difference. MRI can be used to quantitatively investigate the infarcted sites and sizes of patients with vascular dementia after infarction, but there is still lack of systematic investigation on the association of the infarcted sites and sizes with the cognitive function of patients with vascular dementia.CONCLUSTON: Cranial MRI can detect the symptoms of vascular dementia at early period, so that corresponding measures can be adopted to prevent and treat vascular dementia in time.

Since the introduction of helical scanners, CT angiography (CTA) has achieved an essential role in many vascular applications that were previously managed with conventional angiography. The performance of CTA is based on the accurate selection of collimation width, pitch, reconstruction spacing and scan delay, which must be modulated on the basis of the clinical issue. However, the major improvement of CT has been provided by the recent implementation of many post-processing techniques, such as multiplanar reformatting, shaded surface display, maximum intensity projections, 3D perspectives of surface and volume rendering, which simulate virtual intravascular endoscopy. The integration of the potentialities of the scanner and of the image processing techniques permitted improvement of: (a) the evaluation of aneurysms, dissection and vascular anomalies involving the thoracic aorta; (b) carotid artery stenosis; (c) aneurysms of abdominal aorta; (d) renal artery stenosis; (e) follow-up of renal artery stenting; and (f) acute or chronic pulmonary embolism. Our experience has shown that the assessment of arterial pathologies with CTA requires the integration of 3D post-processing techniques in most applications. (orig.) With 4 figs., 34 refs.

Preeclampsia is a complex disorder which affects an estimated 5% of all pregnancies worldwide. It is diagnosed by hypertension in the presence of proteinuria after the 20th week of pregnancy and is a prominent cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. As delivery is currently the only known treatment, preeclampsia is also a leading cause of preterm delivery. Preeclampsia is associated with maternal vascular dysfunction, leading to serious cardiovascular risk both during and following pregnancy. Endothelial dysfunction, resulting in increased peripheral resistance, is an integral part of the maternal syndrome. While the cause of preeclampsia remains unknown, placental ischemia resulting from aberrant placentation is a fundamental characteristic of the disorder. Poor placentation is believed to stimulate the release of a number of factors including pro- and antiangiogenic factors and inflammatory activators into the maternal systemic circulation. These factors are critical mediators of vascular function and impact the endothelium in distinctive ways, including enhanced endothelial oxidative stress. The mechanisms of action and the consequences on the maternal vasculature will be discussed in this review.

Full Text Available The basic hemodynamic abnormality in hypertension is an increased peripheral resistance that is due mainly to a decreased vascular lumen derived from structural changes in the small arteries wall, named (as a whole vascular remodeling. The vascular wall is an active, flexible, and integrated organ made up of cellular (endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, adventitia cells, and fibroblasts and noncellular (extracellular matrix components, which in a dynamic way change shape or number, or reorganize in response to physiological and pathological stimuli, maintaining the integrity of the vessel wall in physiological conditions or participating in the vascular changes in cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension. Research focused on new signaling pathways and molecules that can participate in the mechanisms of vascular remodeling has provided evidence showing that vascular structure is not only affected by blood pressure, but also by mechanisms that are independent of the increased pressure. This review will provide an overview of the evidence, explaining some of the pathophysiologic mechanisms participating in the development of the vascular remodeling, in experimental models of hypertension, with special reference to the findings in spontaneously hypertensive rats as a model of essential hypertension, and in fructose-fed rats as a model of secondary hypertension, in the context of the metabolic syndrome. The understanding of the mechanisms producing the vascular alterations will allow the development of novel pharmacological tools for vascular protection in hypertensive disease.

There is a great need for engineered vascular grafts among patients with cardiovascular diseases who are in need of bypass therapy and lack autologous healthy blood vessels. In addition, because of the severe worldwide shortage of organ donors, there is an increasing need for engineered vascularized tissue constructs as an alternative to organ transplants. Additive manufacturing (AM) offers great advantages and flexibility of fabrication of cell-laden, multimaterial, and anatomically shaped vascular grafts and vascularized tissue constructs. Various inkjet-, extrusion-, and photocrosslinking-based AM techniques have been applied to the fabrication of both self-standing vascular grafts and porous, vascularized tissue constructs. This review discusses the state-of-the-art research on the use of AM for vascular applications and the key criteria for biomaterials in the AM of both acellular and cellular constructs. We envision that new smart printing materials that can adapt to their environment and encourage rapid endothelialization and remodeling will be the key factor in the future for the successful AM of personalized and dynamic vascular tissue applications.

针对单张纸胶印机故障种类多、产生原因复杂、鉴别排除困难的现状,研究和开发了单张纸胶印机学习系统的故障查询与管理模块.在科学分类印刷故障的基础上,利用Access软件建立了故障查询数据库,设计并开发了基于VB的学习系统人机界面.该研发模块支持的单张纸胶印机学习系统,具备依据故障图进行故障分类判断、原因描述及解决方案分析的功能,能够在虚拟环境下,进行印刷故障信息的检索和学习,从而为在校学生、一线工人的技术培训和工程技术人员的工艺、设备研究提供平台.%Malfunction query and management module of learning system of sheet-fed offset press was developed to solve the problems of many kinds, complicated causes, and difficult to distinguish for malfunction of sheet-fed offset press. On the basis of scientific classification of printing malfunction, the module of learning system was established with a mechanical malfunction Access database and VB based man-machine interface. The sheet-fed offset press learning system has the function of judging printing malfunction sort, describing the causes and analyzing the solution. It can be used as a malfunction inquiry, learning and technical training platform for in-school students, printing operators according to a virtual printed sheet with printing malfunction.

Surgically created openings such as bur holes can serve as avenues for the development of collateral blood supply to the brain in patients with moyamoya disease. When such collateralization occurs through preexisting shunt catheter sites, the potential exists for perioperative stroke if these vessels are damaged during revision of a ventricular catheter for shunt malfunction. In this paper the authors report on a series of patients with a history of ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunts who later developed moyamoya disease and were found to have spontaneous transdural collateral vessels at ventricular catheter sites readily visualized on diagnostic angiography. A consecutive surgical series of 412 patients with moyamoya disease treated at Boston Children's Hospital from 1990 to 2010 were reviewed to identify patients with concomitant moyamoya and a VP shunt. The clinical records and angiograms of these patients were reviewed to determine the extent of bur hole collaterals through the shunt site. Three patients were identified who had VP shunts placed for hydrocephalus and subsequently developed moyamoya disease. All 3 patients demonstrated spontaneous transdural collaterals at the ventricular catheter bur hole, as confirmed by angiography during the workup for moyamoya disease. No patients required subsequent revision of their ventricular catheters following the diagnosis of moyamoya. All patients have remained stroke free and clinically stable following pial synangiosis. Although the association of moyamoya and shunted hydrocephalus is rare, it may present a significant potential problem for the neurosurgeon treating a shunt malfunction in this patient population, because shunt bur holes may become entry sites for the ingrowth of significant cortical transdural collateral blood supply to the underlying brain. Shunt revision might therefore be associated with an increased risk of postoperative stroke or operative-site hemorrhage in this population if this

Strokes in the distribution of the posterior circulation may present with vertigo, imbalance, and nystagmus. Although the vertigo due to a posterior circulation stroke is usually associated with other neurologic symptoms or signs, small infarcts involving the cerebellum or brainstem can develop vertigo without other localizing symptoms. Approximately 11% of the patients with an isolated cerebellar infarction present with isolated vertigo, nystagmus, and postural unsteadiness mimicking acute peripheral vestibular disorders. The head impulse test can differentiate acute isolated vertigo associated with cerebellar strokes (particularly within the territory of the posterior inferior cerebellar artery) from more benign disorders involving the inner ear. Acute audiovestibular loss may herald impending infarction in the territory of anterior inferior cerebellar artery. Appropriate bedside evaluation is superior to MRIs for detecting central vascular vertigo syndromes. This article reviews the keys to diagnosis of acute isolated vertigo syndrome due to posterior circulation strokes involving the brainstem and cerebellum. PMID:25328871

We give an induction-free axiom system for diophantine correct open induction. We relate the problem of whether a finitely generated ring of Puiseux polynomials is diophantine correct to a problem about the value-distribution of a tuple of semialgebraic functions with integer arguments. We use this result, and a theorem of Bergelson and Leibman on generalized polynomials, to identify a class of diophantine correct subrings of the field of descending Puiseux series with real coefficients.

The structure of vascular networks adapts continuously to meet changes in demand of the surrounding tissue. Most of the known vascular adaptation mechanisms are based on local reactions to local stimuli such as pressure and flow, which in turn reflects influence from the surrounding tissue. Here ...

Vascularization of the spectacle or brille of the reptile was demonstrated by biomicroscopy, histology, fluorescein (in vivo), and Microfil silicone rubber (in situ) injections. This unusual vascularity provides new evidence for reassessment of the origin and development of this structure, and a useful tool with which to do so.

Klotho is an evolutionarily highly conserved protein related to longevity. Increasing evidence of a vascular protecting effect of the Klotho protein has emerged and might be important for future treatments of uremic vascular calcification. It is still disputed whether Klotho is locally expressed ...

The structure of vascular networks adapts continuously to meet changes in demand of the surrounding tissue. Most of the known vascular adaptation mechanisms are based on local reactions to local stimuli such as pressure and flow, which in turn reflects influence from the surrounding tissue. Here we...

Vascular spasm is a poorly understood but critical biomedical process because it can acutely reduce blood supply and tissue oxygenation. Cardiomyopathy in mice lacking gamma-sarcoglycan or delta-sarcoglycan is characterized by focal damage. In the heart, sarcoglycan gene mutations produce regional defects in membrane permeability and focal degeneration, and it was hypothesized that vascular spasm was responsible for this focal necrosis. Supporting this notion, vascular spasm was noted in coronary arteries, and disruption of the sarcoglycan complex was observed in vascular smooth muscle providing a molecular mechanism for spasm. Using a transgene rescue strategy in the background of sarcoglycan-null mice, we replaced cardiomyocyte sarcoglycan expression. Cardiomyocyte-specific sarcoglycan expression was sufficient to correct cardiac focal degeneration. Intriguingly, successful restoration of the cardiomyocyte sarcoglycan complex also eliminated coronary artery vascular spasm, while restoration of smooth muscle sarcoglycan in the background of sarcoglycan-null alleles did not. This mechanism, whereby tissue damage leads to vascular spasm, can be partially corrected by NO synthase inhibitors. Therefore, we propose that cytokine release from damaged cardiomyocytes can feed back to produce vascular spasm. Moreover, vascular spasm feeds forward to produce additional cardiac damage.

Full Text Available Caffeine is the most widely consumed stimulating substance in the world. It is found in coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate, and many medications. Caffeine is a xanthine with various effects and mechanisms of action in vascular tissue. In endothelial cells, it increases intracellular calcium stimulating the production of nitric oxide through the expression of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase enzyme. Nitric oxide is diffused to the vascular smooth muscle cell to produce vasodilation. In vascular smooth muscle cells its effect is predominantly a competitive inhibition of phosphodiesterase, producing an accumulation of cAMP and vasodilation. In addition, it blocks the adenosine receptors present in the vascular tissue to produce vasoconstriction. In this paper the main mechanisms of action of caffeine on the vascular tissue are described, in which it is shown that caffeine has some cardiovascular properties and effects which could be considered beneficial.

涡轮增压器是船舶动力装置的重要部件,其工作状况是否良好,对改善气缸的燃烧条件,降低燃油消耗,提高柴油机的功率有着十分重要的意义。由于船舶柴油机涡轮增压器的工况恶劣,使用中易发生故障。本文通过其运行中的常见故障,阐述了故障原因并加以分析,提出了排除故障的方法及预防建议。%Turbo charger is a very important component of vessels power appliance, the working condition of it has extremely important meanings to improve the combustion condition of cylinders, reduce fuel consumption and increase engine power. Since the working condition on board is seriously bad, malfunction can be easily happened on the turbo charger. In this article, it will describe and analyze the malfunction reasons and reminding the methods of solving faults and prevention suggestions through different kinds of faults during running.

Cognitive decline after stroke is more common than stroke recurrence. Stroke doubles the risk of dementia and is a major contributor to vascular cognitive impairment and vascular dementia. Neuropathological studies in most cases of dementia in the elderly reveal a large load of vascular ischemic brain lesions mixed with a lesser contribution of neurodegenerative lesions of Alzheimer disease. Nonetheless, few pharmacological studies have addressed vascular cognitive impairment and vascular dementia after stroke. Citicoline has demonstrated neuroprotective effects in acute stroke and has been shown to improve cognition in patients with chronic cerebrovascular disease and in some patients with Alzheimer disease. A recent trial lasting 6 months in patients with first-ever ischemic stroke showed that citicoline prevented cognitive decline after stroke with significant improvement of temporal orientation, attention, and executive function. Experimentally, citicoline exhibits neuroprotective effects and enhances neural repair. Citicoline appears to be a safe and promising alternative to improve stroke recovery and could be indicated in patients with vascular cognitive impairment, vascular dementia, and Alzheimer disease with significant cerebrovascular disease.

Introduction During the teaching and learning process, teachers often check how much students have understood through written assignments. In this article I’d like to describe one method of correcting students’ written work by using a variety of symbols to indicate where students have gone wrong, then asking students to correct their work themselves.

The endothelium regulates vascular homoeostasis through local elaboration of mediators that modulate vascular tone, platelet adhesion, inflammation, fibrinolysis, and vascular growth. Impaired vascular function contributes to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and acute coronary syndromes. There is growing pathophysiological evidence that increased generation of reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress participates in proatherogenic mechanisms of vascular dysfunction and atherothrombosis. In this review, the role of oxidative stress in mechanisms of vascular dysfunction is discussed, and potential antioxidant strategies are reviewed. PMID:12743334

In the future vascular medicine will still have a great impact on health of people. It should be noted that the aging of the population does not lead to a dramatic increase in patient numbers, but will be associated with a changing spectrum of co-morbidities. In addition, vascular medical research has to include the intensive care special features of vascular patients, the involvement of vascular medicine in a holistic concept of fast-track surgery, a geriatric-oriented intensive monitoring and early geriatric rehabilitation. For the future acceptance of vascular medicine as a separate subject area under delimitation of cardiology and radiology is important. On the other hand, the subject is so complex and will become more complex in future specialisations that mixing of surgery and angiology is desirable, with the aim to preserve the vascular surgical knowledge and skills on par with the medical and interventional measures and further develop them. Only large, interdisciplinary guided vascular centres will be able to provide timely diagnosis and therapy, to deal with the growing multi-morbidity of the patient, to perform complex therapies even in an acute emergency and due to sufficient number of cases to present with well-trained and experienced teams. These requirements are mandatory to decrease patients' mortality step by step.

Full Text Available Subcortical vascular dementia is a clinical entity, widespread, even challenging to diagnose and correctly treat. Patients with this diagnosis are old, frail, often with concomitant pathologies, and therefore, with many drugs in therapy. We tried to diagnose and follow up for three years more than 600 patients. Study subjects were men and women, not bedridden, aged 68–94 years, outpatients, recruited from June, 1st 2007 to June, 1st 2010. We examined them clinically, neurologically, with specific consideration on drug therapies. Our aim has been to define gait and imbalance problem, if eventually coexistent with the pathology of white matter and/or with the worsening of the deterioration. Drug intake interference has been detected and considered.

Macrovasculature and microvasculature are deeply interrelated, since microvascular structure is not only the site of vascular resistance but probably also the origin of most of the wave reflections generating increased central systolic blood pressure. In fact, preliminary data suggest that some index of large artery stiffness is related with the media to lumen ratio of subcutaneous small resistance arteries of hypertensive patients. Microvascular structural alterations and changes in the mechanical properties of the macrovessels represent potent predictors of prognosis. Hypertension-related damage to the micro- and macrovascular system may be corrected by pharmacological agents. Among them, beta-blocking agents and diuretics have a negligible effect on microvascular structure, while renin-angiotensin system antagonists and calcium entry blockers have favorable actions, improving large artery mechanics and possibly reducing central wave reflections.

Success as a vascular neurosurgeon almost always begins with passion, an inherent love for the work that drives an insatiable desire for personal improvement. A personal definition of excellence in vascular neurosurgery includes several fundamental qualities: mastery of the basics, refinement of technique, advancement of technology, investigative study, advanced decision making, microsurgical innovation, a well-rounded surgical armamentarium, and a lifelong commitment to teaching. Ultimately, the reward for these efforts is the ability to influence generations to come, particularly as one follows the rising careers of former trainees, each redefining the term "excellence" in vascular neurosurgery.

Peripheral vascular malformations represent a spectrum of lesions that appear through the lifetime and can be found in the whole body. Such lesions are uncommon and are frequently confounded with infantile hemangioma, a common benign neoplastic lesion. In the presence of such lesions, the correlation between the clinical and radiological findings is extremely important to achieve a correct diagnosis, which will guide the best therapeutic approach. The most recent classifications for peripheral vascular malformations are based on the blood flow (low or high) and on the main vascular components (arterial, capillary, lymphatic or venous). Peripheral vascular malformations represent a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge, and complementary methods such as computed tomography, Doppler ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging, in association with clinical findings can provide information regarding blood flow characteristics and lesions extent. Arteriography and venography confirm the diagnosis, evaluate the lesions extent and guide the therapeutic decision making. Generally, low flow vascular malformations are percutaneously treated with sclerosing agents injection, while in high flow lesions the approach is endovascular, with permanent liquid or solid embolization agents. (author)

Full Text Available Fibrolipomas are an infrequent type of lipomas. We describe a case of a man suffering from subcutaneous penile fibrolipoma, who twelve months earlier has been submitted to augmentative phalloplasty due to aesthetic dysmorphophobia. The same patient three years earlier has been submitted to three-component hydraulic penile prostheses implantation due to erectile dysfunction. After six months from removing of the mass, the penile elongation and penile enlargement were stable, the prostheses were correctly functioning and the patient was satisfied with his sexual intercourse and life. The diagnostics and surgical characteristics of this case are reported.

Full Text Available CONTEXT: Iatrogenic vascular problems due to laparoscopy are a well recognized problem and lead to significant repercussions. In this context, a ten-year review of cases topic is presented, based on experience gained while heading two important vascular surgery services. CASES: Five patients with vascular injuries during elective laparoscopy are described. These patients presented with seven lesions of iliac vessels. All cases were evaluated immediately and required laparotomy, provisional hemostasis and urgent attendance by a vascular surgeon. Direct suturing was performed in three cases. One aortoiliac bypass and one ilioiliac reversed venous graft were made. Venous lesions were sutured. One case of a point-like perforation of the small bowel was found. There were no deaths and no complications during the postoperative period. DISCUSSION: Important points on this subject are made, and advice is given. There needs to be immediate recognition of the vascular injury, and expert repair by a vascular surgeon is recommended, in order to significantly reduce the degree of complications.

Trigeminal neuralgia is a debilitating facial pain disorder, frequently caused by vascular compression of the trigeminal nerve. Vascular compression that results in trigeminal neuralgia occurs along the cisternal segment of the nerve. Imaging combined with clinical information is critical to correctly identify patients who are candidates for microvascular decompression. The purpose of this article is to review trigeminal nerve anatomy and to provide strategies for radiologists to recognize important MRI findings in patients with trigeminal neuralgia.

There are well known necessary and sufficient conditions for a quantum code to correct a set of errors. We study weaker conditions under which a quantum code may correct errors with probabilities that may be less than one. We work with stabilizer codes and as an application study how the nine qubit code, the seven qubit code, and the five qubit code perform when there are errors on more than one qubit. As a second application, we discuss the concept of syndrome quality and use it to suggest a way that quantum error correction can be practically improved.

Full Text Available The aim of this preliminary study is to develop a methodology to evaluate the vascularization of fetal brain in normal and abnormal canditions by three-dimensional sonography associated to Power Doppler (3DPD, with application of Virtual Organ Computer-aided Analysis (VOCAL that allows to derive vascularization and flow indexes. In this connction, we propose a new method of standardization of the setting and the acquisition mode, choosing in different fetuses and at different gestational ages the same anatomical volumes, corresponding to five spherical regions of interest. In particular, tu study the overall vascularization of the fetal brain, we use a sphere with a diameter corresponding to the bi-parietal distance. To evaluate the regional vascularization, we identify four sampling spherical sites, two in each hemisphere. This standard technical approach according to correct morphological criteria allows to exclude from the analysis vascular territories external to the brain.

Full Text Available We present SONRIE, a serious game based on virtual reality and comprising four games which act as tests where children must perform gestures in order to progress through several screens (raising eyebrows, kissing, blowing, and smiling. The aims of this pilot study were to evaluate the overall acceptance of the game and the capacity for detecting anomalies in motor execution and, lastly, to establish motor control benchmarks in orofacial muscles. For this purpose, tests were performed in school settings with 96 typically developing children aged between five and seven years. Regarding the different games, in the kissing game, children were able to execute the correct movement at six years of age and a precise movement at the age of seven years. Blowing actions required more maturity, starting from the age of five and achievable by the age of six years. The smiling game was performed correctly among all ages evaluated. The percentage of children who mastered this gesture with both precision and speed was progressively greater reaching more than 75% of values above 100 for children aged seven years. SONRIE was accepted enthusiastically among the population under study. In the future, SONRIE could be used as a tool for detecting difficulties regarding self-control and for influencing performance and the ability to produce fine-tuned facial movements.

Vascular graft infection is one of the most serious complications in vascular surgery. It is associated with mortality rates ranging from 25% to 75% and with morbidity in the form of amputation in approximately 30% of patients. Staphylococcus aureus is the leading pathogen. With conventional...... laboratory techniques, the percentage of culture-negative yet grossly infected vascular grafts seems to be increasing and is not adequately explained by the prior use of antibiotics. We have recently reported the first case of aortic graft infection with Mycoplasma. We therefore suggest the hypothesis...... that the large number of culture-negative yet grossly infected vascular grafts may be due to Mycoplasma infection not detected with conventional laboratory technique....

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare disorder characterized by recurrent, acute, and painful episodes of swelling involving multiple tissues. Deficiency or malfunction of the serine protease inhibitor C1 esterase inhibitor (C1-INH) results in HAE types 1 and 2, respectively, whereas mutations in coagulation factor 12 (f12) have been associated with HAE type 3. C1-INH is the primary inhibitor of multiple plasma cascade pathways known to be altered in HAE patients, including the complement, fibrinolytic, coagulation, and kinin-kallikrein pathways. We have selectively inhibited several components of both the kinin-kallikrein system and the coagulation cascades with potent and selective antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) to investigate their relative contributions to vascular permeability. We have also developed ASO inhibitors of C1-INH and characterized their effects on vascular permeability in mice as an inducible model of HAE. Our studies demonstrate that ASO-mediated reduction in C1-INH plasma levels results in increased vascular permeability and that inhibition of proteases of the kinin-kallikrein system, either f12 or prekallikrein (PKK) reverse the effects of C1-INH depletion with similar effects on both basal and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor-induced permeability. In contrast, inhibition of coagulation factors 11 (f11) or 7 (f7) had no effect. These results suggest that the vascular defects observed in C1-INH deficiency are dependent on the kinin-kallikrein system proteases f12 and PKK, and not mediated through the coagulation pathways. In addition, our results highlight a novel therapeutic modality that can potentially be employed prophylactically to prevent attacks in HAE patients.

Full Text Available ... It can also invite bacteria that lead to gum disease. Click here to find out more. Who We ... It can also invite bacteria that lead to gum disease. Click here to find out more. Corrective Jaw ...

Full Text Available Objective: to evaluate the efficiency of hydroxyethyl starch solution (6% refortane, Berlin-Chemie versus fresh frozen plasma used to correct neonatal hypovolemia.Materials and methods. In 12 neonatal infants with hypoco-agulation, hypovolemia was corrected with fresh frozen plasma (10 ml/kg body weight. In 13 neonates, it was corrected with 6% refortane infusion in a dose of 10 ml/kg. Doppler echocardiography was used to study central hemodynamic parameters and Doppler study was employed to examine regional blood flow in the anterior cerebral and renal arteries.Results. Infusion of 6% refortane and fresh frozen plasma at a rate of 10 ml/hour during an hour was found to normalize the parameters of central hemodynamics and regional blood flow.Conclusion. Comparative analysis of the findings suggests that 6% refortane is the drug of choice in correcting neonatal hypovolemia. Fresh frozen plasma should be infused in hemostatic disorders.

The usual aim of spreadsheet audit is to verify correctness. There are two problems with this: first, it is often difficult to tell whether the spreadsheets in question are correct, and second, even if they are, they may still give the wrong results. These problems are explained in this paper, which presents the key criteria for judging a spreadsheet and discusses how those criteria can be achieved

Methods and systems for adaptable DC offset correction are provided. An exemplary adaptable DC offset correction system evaluates an incoming baseband signal to determine an appropriate DC offset removal scheme; removes a DC offset from the incoming baseband signal based on the appropriate DC offset scheme in response to the evaluated incoming baseband signal; and outputs a reduced DC baseband signal in response to the DC offset removed from the incoming baseband signal.

Scale, with a score >11 defined as depression. The chi (2) and Student's t tests were used to compare groups with and without vascular co-morbidities. Rates and odds ratios of depression were calculated for each vascular co-morbidity, with diabetes only as the reference group, correcting for age and sex....... Single and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to test a more comprehensive model regarding the likelihood of depression in diabetes. RESULTS: The prevalence of depression was 11% in the total sample with little difference between the groups with and without any vascular co-morbidity (11...

Full Text Available The control of vascular tissue development in plants is influenced by diverse hormonal signals, but their interactions during this process are not well understood. Wild-type sterol profiles are essential for growth, tissue patterning and signalling processes in plant development, and are required for regulated vascular patterning.Here we investigate the roles of sterols in vascular tissue development, through an analysis of the Arabidopsis mutants hydra1 and fackel/hydra2, which are defective in the enzymes sterol isomerase and sterol C-14 reductase respectively. We show that defective vascular patterning in the shoot is associated with ectopic cell divisions. Expression of the auxin-regulated AtHB8 homeobox gene is disrupted in mutant embryos and seedlings, associated with variably incomplete vascular strand formation and duplication of the longitudinal axis. Misexpression of the auxin reporter proIAA2ratioGUS and mislocalization of PIN proteins occurs in the mutants. Introduction of the ethylene-insensitive ein2 mutation partially rescues defective cell division, localization of PIN proteins, and vascular strand development.The results support a model in which sterols are required for correct auxin and ethylene crosstalk to regulate PIN localization, auxin distribution and AtHB8 expression, necessary for correctvascular development.

IntroductionI have been teaching English for ten years and like many other teachers in middle schools.I teach threebig classes each year.Before I had the opportunity to further my study in the SMSTT project run jointlyby the British Council and the State Education Commission of China at Southwest China TeachersUniversity.I found it somewhat difficult to correct students homework since I had so many students.Now I still have three big classes.but I have found it casier to correct students homework since I havebeen combining the techniques learned in the project with my own successful experience.In this article.I attempt to discuss my approach to correcting students homework.I hope that it will be of some use tothose who have not vet had the opportunity to further their training.

The model correction factor method is proposed as an alternative to traditional polynomial based response surface techniques in structural reliability considering a computationally time consuming limit state procedure as a 'black box'. The class of polynomial functions is replaced by a limit...... statebased on an idealized mechanical model to be adapted to the original limit state by the model correction factor. Reliable approximations are obtained by iterative use of gradient information on the original limit state function analogously to previous response surface approaches. However, the strength...... of the model correction factor method, is that in simpler form not using gradient information on the original limit state function or only using this information once, a drastic reduction of the number of limit state evaluation is obtained together with good approximations on the reliability. Methods...

Highlights: {center_dot} Types of vascular calcification processes. {center_dot} Inducers of vascular calcification. {center_dot} Inhibitors of vascular calcifications. {center_dot} Clinical utility for vascular calcification therapy. {center_dot} Implications for the development of new tissue engineering strategies. - Abstract: Unlike the traditional beliefs, there are mounting evidences suggesting that ectopic mineral depositions, including vascular calcification are mostly active processes, many times resembling that of the bone mineralization. Numbers of agents are involved in the differentiation of certain subpopulation of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) into the osteoblast-like entity, and the activation and initiation of extracellular matrix ossification process. On the other hand, there are factors as well, that prevent such differentiation and ectopic calcium phosphate formation. In normal physiological environments, activities of such procalcific and anticalcific regulatory factors are in harmony, prohibiting abnormal calcification from occurring. However, in certain pathophysiological conditions, such as atherosclerosis, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and diabetes, such balances are altered, resulting in abnormal ectopic mineral deposition. Understanding the factors that regulate the formation and inhibition of ectopic mineral formation would be beneficial in the development of tissue engineering strategies for prevention and/or treatment of such soft-tissue calcification. Current review focuses on the factors that seem to be clinically relevant and/or could be useful in developing future tissue regeneration strategies. Clinical utilities and implications of such factors are also discussed.

It has long been proposed that the external potassium ion ([K(+)]0) works as a potent vasodilator in the dynamic regulation of local cerebral blood flow. Astrocytes may play a central role for producing K(+) outflow possibly through calcium-activated potassium channels on the end feet, responding to a rise in the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration, which might well reflect local neuronal activity. A mild elevation of [K(+)]0 in the end feet/vascular smooth muscle space could activate Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase concomitant with inwardly rectifying potassium (Kir) channels in vascular smooth muscle cells, leading to a hyperpolarization of vascular smooth muscle and relaxation of smooth muscle actin-positive vessels. Also proposed notion is endothelial calcium-activated potassium channels and/or inwardly rectifying potassium channel-mediated hyperpolarization of vascular smooth muscle. A larger elevation of [K(+)]0, which may occur pathophysiologically in such as spreading depression or stroke, can trigger a depolarization of vascular smooth muscle cells and vasoconstriction instead.

Full Text Available Mo Al-Qaisi1, David M Nott1, David H King1, Sam Kaddoura2, Mo Hamady31Charing Cross Hospital, London, UK; 2Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK; 3St. Mary’s Hospital, London, UKAbstract: This illustrated review article gives an evidence-based update on the different modalities used for imaging peripheral vascular disease (duplex ultrasound, computed tomography angiography, magnetic resonance angiography, and digital subtraction angiography. After discussing the latest technological developments for each modality, their limitations are also highlighted. The evidence is presented for the various modalities’ roles in the imaging of peripheral vascular disease, including problem-solving applications. The strengths and weaknesses of each modality are therefore critically appraised, including the salient technological, clinical, and financial aspects. This review allows the general and specialist practitioner to make an informed decision on how best to deploy imaging tests in peripheral vascular disease as part of an evidence-based approach. The article concludes with a rational imaging algorithm for the investigation of peripheral vascular disease.Keywords: imaging, peripheral, vascular, duplex, angiography, arterial

Full Text Available This paper concerns a service in which multiple guide robots in an area display arrows to guide individual users to their destinations. It proposes a method of identifying malfunctioning robots and robots that give wrong directions to users. In this method, users’ mobile terminals and robots form a store-carry and forward-type M2M communication network, and a distributed cooperative protocol is used to enable robots to share information and identify malfunctioning robots using the Byzantine algorithm. The robots do not directly communicate with each other, but through users’ mobile terminals. We have introduced the concept of the quasi-synchronous number, so whether a certain robot is malfunctioning can be determined even when items of information held by all of the robots are not synchronized. Using simulation, we have evaluated the proposed method in terms of the rate of identifying malfunctioning robots, the rate of reaching the destination and the average length of time to reach the destination.

The purpose of this study was to examine results with elective surgical correction of enophthalmos. The study was a retrospective assessment in a university-based referral practice. A consecutive sample of 10 patients who developed ocular dystopia following orbital trauma was examined. The main outcome measures were a subjective evaluation by patients and objective measurements of patients' eye position. The intervention was three-dimensional orbital reconstruction with titanium plates. It is concluded that satisfactory correction of enophthalmos and ocular dystopia can be achieved with elective surgery using titanium plates. In addition, intraoperative measurements of eye position in three planes increases the precision of surgery.

Full Text Available Aging is increasingly regarded as an independent risk factor for development of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and hypertension and their complications (e.g. MI and Stroke. It is well known that vascular disease evolve over decades with progressive accumulation of cellular and extracellular materials and many inflammatory processes. Metabolic syndrome, obesity and diabetes are conventionally recognized as risk factors for development of coronary vascular disease (CVD. These conditions are known to accelerate ageing process in general and vascular ageing in particular. Adverse events during intrauterine life may programme organ growth and favour disease later in life, popularly known as, ′Barker′s Hypothesis′. The notion of fetal programming implies that during critical periods of prenatal growth, changes in the hormonal and nutritional milieu of the conceptus may alter the full expression of the fetal genome, leading to permanent effects on a range of physiological.

The mechanisms controlling vascular development, both normal and pathological, are not yet fully understood. Many diseases, including cancer and diabetic retinopathy, involve abnormal blood vessel formation. Therefore, increasing knowledge of these mechanisms may help develop novel therapeutic targets. The identification of novel proteins or cells involved in this process would be particularly useful. The retina is an ideal model for studying vascular development because it is easy to access, particularly in rodents where this process occurs post-natally. Recent studies have suggested potential roles for laminin chains in vascular development of the retina. This review will provide an overview of these studies, demonstrating the importance of further research into the involvement of laminins in retinal blood vessel formation.

Full Text Available The phloem is the conduit through which photoassimilates are distributed from autotrophic to heterotrophic tissues and is involved in the distribution of signaling molecules that coordinate plant growth and responses to the environment. Phloem function depends on the coordinate expression of a large array of genes. We have previously identified conserved motifs in upstream regions of the Arabidopsis genes, encoding the homologs of pumpkin phloem sap mRNAs, displaying expression in vascular tissues. This tissue-specific expression in Arabidopsis is predicted by the overrepresentation of GA/CT-rich motifs in gene promoters. In this work we have searched for common motifs in upstream regions of the homologous genes from plants considered to possess a primitive vascular tissue (a lycophyte, as well as from others that lack a true vascular tissue (a bryophyte, and finally from chlorophytes. Both lycophyte and bryophyte display motifs similar to those found in Arabidopsis with a significantly low E-value, while the chlorophytes showed either a different conserved motif or no conserved motif at all. These results suggest that these same genes are expressed coordinately in non- vascular plants; this coordinate expression may have been one of the prerequisites for the development of conducting tissues in plants. We have also analyzed the phylogeny of conserved proteins that may be involved in phloem function and development. The presence of CmPP16, APL, FT and YDA in chlorophytes suggests the recruitment of ancient regulatory networks for the development of the vascular tissue during evolution while OPS is a novel protein specific to vascular plants.

Vascular injury in orthopedic trauma is challenging. The risk to life and limb can be high, and clinical signs initially can be subtle. Recognition and management should be a critical skill for every orthopedic surgeon. There are 5 types of vascular injury: intimal injury (flaps, disruptions, or subintimal/intramural hematomas), complete wall defects with pseudoaneurysms or hemorrhage, complete transections with hemorrhage or occlusion, arteriovenous fistulas, and spasm. Intimal defects and subintimal hematomas with possible secondary occlusion are most commonly associated with blunt trauma, whereas wall defects, complete transections, and arteriovenous fistulas usually occur with penetrating trauma. Spasm can occur after either blunt or penetrating trauma to an extremity and is more common in young patients. Clinical presentation of vascular injury may not be straightforward. Physical examination can be misleading or initially unimpressive; a normal pulse examination may be present in 5% to 15% of patients with vascular injury. Detection and treatment of vascular injuries should take place within the context of the overall resuscitation of the patient according to the established principles of the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) protocols. Advances in the field, made mostly during times of war, have made limb salvage the rule rather than the exception. Teamwork, familiarity with the often subtle signs of vascular injuries, a high index of suspicion, effective communication, appropriate use of imaging modalities, sound knowledge of relevant technique, and sequence of surgical repairs are among the essential factors that will lead to a successful outcome. This article provides a comprehensive literature review on a subject that generates significant controversy and confusion among clinicians involved in the care of trauma patients. [Orthopedics. 2016; 39(4):249-259.].

Optical measurements of range and elevation angles are distorted by refraction of Earth's atmosphere. Theoretical discussion of effect, along with equations for determining exact range and elevation corrections, is presented in report. Potentially useful in optical site surveying and related applications, analysis is easily programmed on pocket calculator. Input to equation is measured range and measured elevation; output is true range and true elevation.

Even for short-distance dominated observables the QCD perturbation expansion is never complete. The divergence of the expansion through infrared renormalons provides formal evidence of this fact. In this article we review how this apparent failure can be turned into a useful tool to investigate power corrections to hard processes in QCD.

Radiative corrections to parity violating deep inelastic electron scattering are reviewed including a discussion of the renormalization group evolution of the weak mixing angle. Recently obtained results on hypothetical Z' bosons - for which parity violating observables play an important role - are also presented.

A general forecasting correcting formula, as a framework for long-use and standardized forecasts, is created. The formula provides new forecasting resources and new possibilities for expansion of forecasting including economic forecasting into the areas of municipal needs, middle-size and small-size business and, even, to individual forecasting.

To err is human . Since the 1960s, most second language teachers or language theorists have regarded errors as natural and inevitable in the language learning process . Instead of regarding them as terrible and disappointing, teachers have come to realize their value. This paper will consider these values, analyze some errors and propose some effective correction techniques.

Full Text Available ... of jaws and teeth. Surgery can improve chewing, speaking and breathing. While the patient's appearance may be dramatically enhanced as a result of their surgery, orthognathic surgery is performed to correct functional problems. Jaw Surgery can have a dramatic effect on ...

Full Text Available ... functional problems. Jaw Surgery can have a dramatic effect on many aspects of life. Following are some of the conditions that may indicate the need for corrective jaw surgery: Difficulty chewing, or biting food Difficulty swallowing Chronic jaw or jaw joint (TMJ) ...

In the ”Directions and Hints” for collaborators in Flora Malesiana, which has been forwarded to all collaborators, two corrections should be made, viz: 1) p. 12; Omit the explanatory notes under Jamaica Plain, Mass., and Cambridge, Mass. 2) p. 13; Add as number 12a; Stockholm, Paleobotaniska Avdelni

A general forecasting correcting formula, as a framework for long-use and standardized forecasts, is created. The formula provides new forecasting resources and new possibilities for expansion of forecasting including economic forecasting into the areas of municipal needs, middle-size and small-size business and, even, to individual forecasting.

Objective：To analyze causes of fault of ion source of the medical cyclotron to deal with fault diagnosis. Methods：The fault reasons were judged by using the software of MSS maintenance. Then the vacuum cavity was opened to install ion source at the correct position by using the special tools. Finally, the ion source system and RF system were debugged with the software of MSS. Results：Observation of the parameters of the RF system and ion source system showed that the system was stable when the cyclotron worked in 25 μA. Conclusion：To maintain ion source system well, we should make ion source has the more long life.%目的;分析医用回旋加速器的离子源故障产生的原因,并进行故障的处理。方法：用MSS维修软件判断故障产生的原因,打开真空腔对离子源进行处理,并用离子源专用工具将离子源安装于正确位置,最后用MSS软件对回旋加速器的射频系统和离子源系统进行调试。结果：通过观察射频和离子源系统的参数,最终在工作束流25μA时系统达到稳定。结论：要维护好离子源系统,使离子源有更长的寿命,工作束流应该在满足临床需要的前提下尽可能小一些,以减小系统的打火,延长使用寿命。

With surgery for hepatic malignancy, there are poor options for chemotherapy; many patients are deemed unresectable because of vascular involvement or location of tumors. Over the past few decades, advances in surgical technique have allowed resection of these tumors with vascular reconstruction to achieve negative margins and improve chances for survival. This article reviews those reconstruction techniques and outcomes in detail, including in situ perfusion and ex vivo liver surgery, and provides a discussion of implications and operative planning for patients with hepatic malignancy in order to provide surgeons with better understanding of these complicated operations.

All tissue-engineered substitutes (with the exception of cornea and cartilage) require a vascular network to provide the nutrient and oxygen supply needed for their survival in vivo. Unfortunately the process of vascular ingrowth into an engineered tissue can take weeks to occur naturally and during this time the tissues become starved of essential nutrients, leading to tissue death. This review initially gives a brief overview of the processes and factors involved in the formation of new vasculature. It then summarizes the different approaches that are being applied or developed to overcome the issue of slow neovascularization in a range of tissue-engineered substitutes. Some potential future strategies are then discussed.

The structure of vascular networks adapts continuously to meet changes in demand of the surrounding tissue. Most of the known vascular adaptation mechanisms are based on local reactions to local stimuli such as pressure and flow, which in turn reflects influence from the surrounding tissue. Here we...... of the tissue are supplied. A set of model parameters uniquely determine the model dynamics, and we have identified the region of the best-performing model parameters (a global optimum). This region is surrounded in parameter space by less optimal model parameter values, and this separation is characterized...

Vascular calcification is commonly seen with aging, chronic kidney disese (CKD), diabetes, and atherosclerosis, and is closely associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Vascular calcification has long been regarded as the final stage of degeneration and necrosis of arterial wall and a passive, unregulated process. However, it is now known to be an active and tightly regulated process involved with phenotypic transition of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) that resembles bone mineralization. Briefly, calcium deposits of atherosclerotic plaque consist of hydroxyapatite and may appear identical to fully formed lamellar bone. By using a genetic fate mapping strategy, VSMC of the vascular media give rise to the majority of the osteochondrogenic precursor- and chondrocyte-like cells observed in the calcified arterial media of MGP (- / -) mice. Osteogenic differentiation of VSMC is characterized by the expression of bone-related molecules including bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) -2, Msx2 and osteopontin, which are produced by osteoblasts and chondrocytes. Our recent findings are that (i) Runx2 and Notch1 induce osteogenic differentiation, and (ii) advanced glycation end-product (AGE) /receptor for AGE (RAGE) and palmitic acid promote osteogenic differentiation of VSMC. To understand of the molecular mechanisms of vascular calcification is now under intensive research area.

. CONCLUSÃO: A técnica do emprego do retalho pericárdico pediculado, vascularizado e autógeno é a mais adequada e a mais completa em comparação com todas as outras técnicas cirúrgicas existentes para correção dos diferentes tipos de coarctação da aorta torácica, nas suas formas simples ou associadas a outras lesões aórticas. É indicada em todas as faixas etárias, inclusive em recém-natos.OBJECTIVE: Eighteen years ago, two young male patients of 8 months and 13 years with aortic coarctation associated to aortic hypoplasia between the left subclavian artery and the coarctated area, were submitted to surgical correction using a new world-pioneering surgical technique developed in our service. METHOD: This technique consists of sectioning the patent ductus arteriosus, followed by resection of all the coarctated tissue in the aortic wall and aortoplasty correction by means of the lengthwise implantation of a pediculated autogenous pericardial flap. This flap is inserted into the thoracic aorta, from the root of the left subclavian artery to 2.0 cm below the coarctated area. RESULTS: For both patients, the blood pressure and arterial pulses of both arms and legs have been normal since the surgery until the present moment. Clinical examination and Doppler evaluation evidenced no pressure gradient between arms and legs, normal blood flow and no pressure gradient through the coarctated area. Both patients were submitted to other evaluations 18 years after surgery, including cardiac and thoracic aortic catheterization followed by aortography. These evaluations demonstrated normal aortic configuration, with normal diameter, including the areas above and below the coarctated site. There was no evidence of any kind of degenerative lesions of the vascularized pericardial flap or re-coarctation of the lesion and no signs of aneurysms forming or the presence of atherosclerosis of the flap. Moreover, and very importantly, it was evident that the pediculated completely

AIM: To determine whether urinary beta 2-glycoprotein-1 assays can provide improved discrimination between chronic renal diseases which are primarily of tubular or glomerular origin. METHODS: Urinary beta 2-glycoprotein-1, retinol-binding protein, alpha 1-microglobulin, beta 2-microglobulin, N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosa-minidase and albumin were measured in 51 patients with primary glomerular disease, 23 with obstructive nephropathy, and 15 with polycystic kidney disease, and expressed per mmol of creatinine. Plasma beta 2-glycoprotein-1 was assayed in 52 patients and plasma creatinine in all 89. The findings were compared between the diagnostic groups and with previously published data relating to primary tubular disorders. RESULTS: All 31 patients with plasma creatinine greater than 200 mumol/l excreted increased amounts of beta 2-glycoprotein-1, retinol-binding protein, and alpha 1-microglobulin, and 29 had increased N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase; the quantities were generally similar to those found in comparable patients with primary tubular pathology. Among 58 with plasma creatinine concentrations under 200 mumol/l, increases in beta 2-glycoprotein-1, retinol-binding protein, and alpha 1-microglobulin excretion were less common and much smaller, especially in those with obstructive nephropathy and polycystic disease. The ratios of the excretion of albumin to the other proteins provided the clearest discrimination between the patients with glomerular or tubular malfunction, but an area of overlap was present which embraced those with obstructive nephropathy and polycystic disease. CONCLUSIONS: Increased excretion of beta 2-glycoprotein-1 due to a raised plasma concentration or diminution of tubular reabsorption, or both, is common in all the forms of renal disease investigated, and both plasma creatinine and urinary albumin must be taken into account when interpreting results. Ratios of urinary albumin: beta 2-glycoprotein-1 greater than 1000 are highly suggestive

textabstractCardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in the Western world. Therefore, detection and quantification of atherosclerotic disease is of paramount importance to monitor treatment and possible prevention of acute events. Vascular ultrasound is an excellent technique to assess the

Three types of vascular dysfunction have been described in multiple sclerosis (MS). First, findings from epidemiological studies suggest that patients with MS have a higher risk for ischaemic stroke than people who do not have MS. The underlying mechanism is unknown, but might involve endothelial dy

Quality of vascular access (VA) has a remarkable influence in hemodialysis patients outcomes. Dysfunction of VA represents a capital cause of morbi-mortality of these patients as well an increase in economical. Spanish Society of Neprhology, aware of the problem, has decided to carry out a revision of the issue with the aim of providing help in comprehensión and treatment related with VA problems, and achieving an homogenization of practices in three mayor aspects: to increase arteriovenous fistula utilization as first vascular access, to increment vascular access monitoring practice and rationalise central catheters use. We present a consensus document elaborated by a multidisciplinar group composed by nephrologists, vascular surgeons, interventional radiologysts, infectious diseases specialists and nephrological nurses. Along six chapters that cover patient education, creation of VA, care, monitoring, complications and central catheters, we present the state of the art and propose guidelines for the best practice, according different evidence based degrees, with the intention to provide help at the professionals in order to make aproppiate decissions. Several quality standars are also included.

Purpose: To determine the genetic contribution to the pattern of retinal vascular branching expressed by its fractal dimension. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 50 monozygotic and 49 dizygotic, same-sex twin pairs aged 20 to 46 years. In 50°, disc-centered fundus photographs, the reti......Purpose: To determine the genetic contribution to the pattern of retinal vascular branching expressed by its fractal dimension. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 50 monozygotic and 49 dizygotic, same-sex twin pairs aged 20 to 46 years. In 50°, disc-centered fundus photographs......, the retinal vascular fractal dimension was measured using the box-counting method and compared within monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs using Pearson correlation coefficients. Falconer's formula and quantitative genetic models were used to determine the genetic component of variation. Results: The mean......, the branching pattern of the retinal vessels demonstrated a higher structural similarity in monozygotic than in dizygotic twin pairs. The retinal vascular fractal dimension was mainly determined by genetic factors, which accounted for 54% of the variation. The genetically predetermination of the retinal...

Early deep inelastic scattering (DIS) experiments at SLAC discovered partons, identified them as quarks and gluons, and restricted the set of the candidate theories for strong interactions to those exhibiting the asymptotic freedom property. The next generation DIS experiments at FNAL and CERN confirmed the predictions of QCD for the size of the scaling violation effects in the nucleon structure functions. The QCD fits to their data resulted in determining the momentum distributions of the point-like constituents of nucleons. Interpretation of data coming from all these experiments and, in the case of the SLAC experiments, even an elaboration of the running strategies, would not have been possible without a precise understanding of the electromagnetic radiative corrections. In this note I recollect the important milestones, achieved in the period preceding the HERA era, in the high precision calculations of the radiative corrections to DIS, and in the development of the methods of their experimental control. ...

Full exploitation of emittance exchange (EEX) requires aberration-free performance of a complex imaging system including active radio-frequency (RF) elements which can add temporal distortions. We investigate the performance of an EEX line where the exchange occurs between two dimensions with normalized emittances which differ by orders of magnitude. The transverse emittance is exchanged into the longitudinal dimension using a double dog-leg emittance exchange setup with a 5 cell RF deflector cavity. Aberration correction is performed on the four most dominant aberrations. These include temporal aberrations that are corrected with higher order magnetic optical elements located where longitudinal and transverse emittance are coupled. We demonstrate aberration-free performance of emittances differing by 4 orders of magnitude, i.e. an initial transverse emittance of $\\epsilon_x=1$ pm-rad is exchanged with a longitudinal emittance of $\\epsilon_z=10$ nm-rad.

In 1898, Ernest Duporcq stated a famous theorem about rigid-body motions with spherical trajectories, without giving a rigorous proof. Today, this theorem is again of interest, as it is strongly connected with the topic of self-motions of planar Stewart–Gough platforms. We discuss Duporcq's theorem from this point of view and demonstrate that it is not correct. Moreover, we also present a revised version of this theorem. PMID:25540467

Full Text Available Abstract Congenitally corrected transposition is a rare cardiac malformation characterized by the combination of discordant atrioventricular and ventriculo-arterial connections, usually accompanied by other cardiovascular malformations. Incidence has been reported to be around 1/33,000 live births, accounting for approximately 0.05% of congenital heart malformations. Associated malformations may include interventricular communications, obstructions of the outlet from the morphologically left ventricle, and anomalies of the tricuspid valve. The clinical picture and age of onset depend on the associated malformations, with bradycardia, a single loud second heart sound and a heart murmur being the most common manifestations. In the rare cases where there are no associated malformations, congenitally corrected transposition can lead to progressive atrioventricular valvar regurgitation and failure of the systemic ventricle. The diagnosis can also be made late in life when the patient presents with complete heart block or cardiac failure. The etiology of congenitally corrected transposition is currently unknown, and with an increase in incidence among families with previous cases of congenitally corrected transposition reported. Diagnosis can be made by fetal echocardiography, but is more commonly made postnatally with a combination of clinical signs and echocardiography. The anatomical delineation can be further assessed by magnetic resonance imaging and catheterization. The differential diagnosis is centred on the assessing if the patient is presenting with isolated malformations, or as part of a spectrum. Surgical management consists of repair of the associated malformations, or redirection of the systemic and pulmonary venous return associated with an arterial switch procedure, the so-called double switch approach. Prognosis is defined by the associated malformations, and on the timing and approach to palliative surgical care.

Radionuclide studies in a renal-transplant patient with congestive heart failure suggested vascular steal from the renal allograft by a contralateral femoral arteriovenous fistula. These reliable, noninvasive diagnostic procedures have potential use in similar settings to evaluate allograft perfusion and function. Correction by removal of the fistula was demonstrated.

Pediatric central nervous system (CNS) vascular anomalies include lesions found only in the pediatric population and also the full gamut of vascular lesions found in adults. Pediatric-specific lesions discussed here include infantile hemangioma, vein of Galen malformation and dural sinus malformation. Some CNS vascular lesions that occur in adults, such as arteriovenous malformation, have somewhat distinct manifestations in children, and those are also discussed. Additionally, children with CNS vascular malformations often have associated broader vascular conditions, e.g., PHACES (posterior fossa anomalies, hemangioma, arterial anomalies, cardiac anomalies, eye anomalies and sternal anomalies), hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, and capillary malformation-arteriovenous malformation syndrome (related to the RASA1 mutation). The treatment of pediatric CNS vascular malformations has greatly benefited from advances in endovascular therapy, including technical advances in adult interventional neuroradiology. Dramatic advances in therapy are expected to stem from increased understanding of the genetics and vascular biology that underlie pediatric CNS vascular malformations. (orig.)

OBJECTIVE: Women with a history of vascular complicated pregnancy are at risk for developing remote cardiovascular disease. It is associated with underlying cardiovascular risk factors both jeopardizing trophoblast and vascular function. Subclinical hypothyroidism may relate to both conditions. METH

Surgeons working within the United Kingdom's National Health Service have an established history of clinical innovation, research, and development in the field of vascular surgery but lack a unified trauma system to deliver optimal care for patients with vascular injury. The low incidence of vascular trauma, combined with lack of regional trauma systems, works against optimal delivery of care to the polytrauma patient. Providing care, robust data capture, and opportunities for training and education in vascular injury lag behind other elective domains of vascular practice. The challenge is to define ideal care pathways, referral networks, and standards of practice and to integrate the care of such patients. In 2010, a trauma system for London was introduced; it has provided vascular surgeons with a unique opportunity to study and advance the care of patients with vascular injury. This article discusses developing trauma network issues, particularly the organization and evolution of vascular trauma services in the United Kingdom.

Twenty years has passed since our first call for a new specialty in Vascular Medicine(1). This proposal was motivated by novel insights into vascular disease, advances in diagnostics and therapies directed toward the vasculature, and a growing population of patients with vascular disease. Now, with two decades of perspective, we reaffirm the call for Vascular Medicine, highlight the field’s early successes, and provide our vision for the future of the specialty.

Vascular cognitive impairment(VCI) encompasses the entire range of cognitive deficits associated with cerebrovascular disease(CVD), from mild deficits with little or no functional impairment, such as vascular cognitive impairment-no dementia(VCIND), to full-blown vascular dementia(VaD). Accurate diagnosis of vascular cognitive impairment is important but may be difficult. In this review we report advances in VCI in the following areas: etiology, subtypes, neuropsychology, biomarkers, neuroimaging, and diagnostic criteria.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is associated with hyperhomocysteinemia and polycystic ovaries (PCO) usually produce oocytes of poor quality. However, the intracellular mechanism linking hyperhomocysteinemia and oocyte quality remains elusive. In this study, the quality of the oocytes isolated from healthy and polycystic gilt ovaries was evaluated in vitro in association with one-carbon metabolism, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) methylation, and mitochondrial function. PCO oocytes demonstrated impaired polar body extrusion, and significantly decreased cleavage and blastocyst rates. The mitochondrial distribution was disrupted in PCO oocytes, together with decreased mitochondrial membrane potential and deformed mitochondrial structure. The mtDNA copy number and the expression of mtDNA-encoded genes were significantly lower in PCO oocytes. Homocysteine concentration in follicular fluid was significantly higher in PCO group, which was associated with significantly up-regulated one-carbon metabolic enzymes betaine homocysteine methyltransferase (BHMT), glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT) and the DNA methyltransferase DNMT1. Moreover, mtDNA sequences coding for 12S, 16S rRNA and ND4, as well as the D-loop region were significantly hypermethylated in PCO oocytes. These results indicate that an abnormal activation of one-carbon metabolism and hypermethylation of mtDNA may contribute, largely, to the mitochondrial malfunction and decreased quality of PCO-derived oocytes in gilts.

文章介绍了AIRSEA System Ⅱ几个方面的改进和劣海况下进行重力测量时发生重力传感器倒台的现象，通过故障实例分析，指出倒台现象的主要原因是仪器本身结构不合理、散热效果不理想。AIRSEA SystemⅡ传感器倒台故障的分析思路及相应的解决对策对实际海洋重力测量外业具有指导意义。%This paper describes few improvements of AIRSEA System Ⅱ and the sensor~ s downfall during gravimetry on the abominable sea. Through the example of faults, main reasons caused the downfall are pointed out that are unreasonable structure and non-ideal heat dissipation. Malfunction analysis for the downfall of AIRSEA System Ⅱ and its corresponding countermeasures have guiding significance for the practical marine gravimetry.

Children suffering supracondylar fractures of the humerus are at risk of vascular compromise, which is currently assessed clinically, although other modalities such as angiography, pulse oximetry, Doppler ultrasound and magnetic resonance angiography have been used. We sought to ascertain whether tissue haemoglobin oxygenation (StO2) measurement could distinguish between patients with and without clinical vascular compromise following supracondylar fractures of the humerus. We prospectively observed StO2 using near-infrared spectroscopy in 29 paediatric patients with supracondylar fractures requiring operative manipulation. The injured and uninjured volar forearm compartments were monitored immediately before and after fracture reduction. The relationship between StO2 in the injured and uninjured limb, and the presence of pre-operative vascular compromise was assessed. Seven out of 29 children presented with vascular compromise. Patients with clinical vascular compromise had significantly lower pre-reduction StO2 (63.5% ± 15%, mean ± standard deviation), compared to those without compromise (80.9% ± 10%). StO2 normalized following surgery in all children with vascular compromise. These improvements in muscle StO2 were associated, in all patients, with the clinical return of pulses and resolution of neurological symptoms if present. StO2 monitoring can identify patients with clinical vascular compromise, can identify the return of adequate perfusion following operative correction of supracondylar fractures, and may be a useful adjunct to clinical assessment.

Background The use of a free,vascularized fibular graft is an important technique for the reconstruction of large defects in long bones.The technique has many advantages in strong,tubular bones; a more reliable vascular anatomy with a large vascular diameter and long pedicle is used,minimizing donor-site morbidity.Due to limitations in both fibular anatomy and mechanics,they cannot effectively be used to treat large limb bone defects due to their volume and strength.Methods From 1990 to 2001,16 clinical cases of large bone defects were treated using vascularized double-barrel fibular grafts.Patients were evaluated for an average of 10 months after surgery.Results All the patients achieved bony union; the average bone union took 10 months post surgery,and no stress fractures occurred.Compared with single fibular grafts,the vascularized double-barrel fibular grafts greatly facilitate bony union and are associated with fewer complications,suggesting that the vascularized double-barrel fibular graft is a valuable procedure for the correction of large bone defects in large,long bones in addition to enhancing bone intensity.Conclusions The vascularized double-barrel fibular graft is superior to the single fibular graft in stimulating osteogenous activity and biological mechanics for the correction of very large bone defects in large,long bones.Free vascularized folded double-barrel fibular grafts can not only fill up large bone defects,but also improve the intensity margin.Therefore,this study also widens its application and enlarges the treatment targets.However,in the case of bone deformability,special attention should be paid to bone fixation and protection of donor and recipient sites.

The author describes from his personal involvement the many improvements to electron microscopy Albert Crewe and his group brought by minimizing the effects of aberrations. The Butler gun was developed to minimize aperture aberrations in a field emission electron gun. In the 1960s, Crewe anticipated using a spherical aberration corrector based on Scherzer's design. Since the tolerances could not be met mechanically, a method of moving the center of the octopoles electrically was developed by adding lower order multipole fields. Because the corrector was located about 15 cm ahead of the objective lens, combination aberrations would arise with the objective lens. This fifth order aberration would then limit the aperture of the microscope. The transformation of the off axis aberration coefficients of a round lens was developed and a means to cancel anisotropic coma was developed. A new method of generating negative spherical aberration was invented using the combination aberrations of hexapoles. Extensions of this technique to higher order aberrations were developed. An electrostatic electron mirror was invented, which allows the cancellation of primary spherical aberration and first order chromatic aberration. A reduction of chromatic aberration by two orders of magnitude was demonstrated using such a system. -- Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Crewe and his group made significant advances in aberration correction and reduction. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A deeper understanding of the quadrupole octopole corrector was developed. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A scheme to correct spherical aberration using hexapoles was developed. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Chromatic aberration was corrected using a uniform field mirror.

Vocal fold disorders such as laryngitis, vocal nodules, and vocal polyps may cause hoarseness, breathing and swallowing difficulties due to vocal fold malfunction. Despite the fact that state of the art medical imaging techniques help physicians to obtain more detailed information, difficulty in differentiating minor anomalies of vocal folds encourages physicians to research new strategies and technologies to aid the diagnostic process. Recent studies on vocal fold disorders note the potential role of the vascular structure of vocal folds in differential diagnosis of anomalies. However, standards of clinical usage of the blood vessels have not been well established yet due to the lack of objective and comprehensive evaluation of the vascular structure. In this paper, we present a novel approach that categorizes vocal folds into healthy, nodule, polyp, sulcus vocalis, and laryngitis classes exploiting visible blood vessels on the superior surface of vocal folds and shapes of vocal fold edges by using image processing techniques and machine learning methods. We first detected the vocal folds on videolaryngostroboscopy images by using Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG) descriptors. Then we examined the shape of vocal fold edges in order to provide features such as size and splay portion of mass lesions. We developed a new vessel centerline extraction procedure that is specialized to the vascular structure of vocal folds. Extracted vessel centerlines were evaluated in order to get vascular features of vocal folds, such as the amount of vessels in the longitudinal and transverse form. During the last step, categorization of vocal folds was performed by a novel binary decision tree architecture, which evaluates features of the vocal fold edge shape and vascular structure. The performance of the proposed system was evaluated by using laryngeal images of 70 patients. Sensitivity of 86%, 94%, 80%, 73%, and 76% were obtained for healthy, polyp, nodule, laryngitis, and

IntroductionMistakes and their correction generally follow one another in the language classroom.Most teachersthink that correction is a necessary part of teaching;while most students agree that making mistakesis a necessary part of learning.Although both teachers and students maintain that correction andmistakes are necessary,we often find that some correction helps students’ learning and some does not.Correction can make students lose confidence and interest in learning.In order to try and find outmore about why this happens I surveyed students attitudes towards mistakes and correction.

The computational potential of a quantum processor can only be unleashed if errors during a quantum computation can be controlled and corrected for. Quantum error correction works if imperfections of quantum gate operations and measurements are below a certain threshold and corrections can be applied repeatedly. We implement multiple quantum error correction cycles for phase-flip errors on qubits encoded with trapped ions. Errors are corrected by a quantum-feedback algorithm using high-fidelity gate operations and a reset technique for the auxiliary qubits. Up to three consecutive correction cycles are realized, and the behavior of the algorithm for different noise environments is analyzed.

In this article, we present a new approach to the problem of calculating compilers. In particular, we develop a simple but general technique that allows us to derive correct compilers from high-level semantics by systematic calculation, with all details of the implementation of the compilers...... falling naturally out of the calculation process. Our approach is based upon the use of standard equational reasoning techniques, and has been applied to calculate compilers for a wide range of language features and their combination, including arithmetic expressions, exceptions, state, various forms...

A thorough evaluation of both urethral and penile malformation are mandatory for the choice of the best surgical treatment of patients with hypospadias. The site and the size of the urethral meatus, the presence of a chordee and of a velamentous distal urethra must be carefully assessed. In distal (glandular and coronal) hypospadias, the meatal advancement with glanduloplasty is the treatment of choice. In proximal hypospadias with chordee, the transverse preputial island flap according to the Duckett's technique allows a one-stage hypospadias repair. The awareness of the possible psychologic impact of genital malformations in childhood recommends an early correction of hypospadias, if possible during the first year of life.

Current options for correction of paralytic lagophthalmos are either temporary (external eyelid weight placement, hyaluronic acid gel or botulinum toxin A injection) or permanent (various procedures for narrowing of the palpebral fissure, upper eyelid weights or spring implantation). Neuroplastic surgery (cross-facial nerve grafting, nerve anastomoses) and muscle transposition surgery is not effective enough. The majority of elderly and medically compromised patients should not be considered for such complicated and long procedures. Upper eyelid weight implantation thus appears the most reliable and simple treatment.

The application of motion tracking is wide, including: industrial production lines, motion interaction in gaming, computer-aided surgery and motion correction in medical brain imaging. Several devices for motion tracking exist using a variety of different methodologies. In order to use such devices...... offset and tracking noise in medical brain imaging. The data are generated from a phantom mounted on a rotary stage and have been collected using a Siemens High Resolution Research Tomograph for positron emission tomography. During acquisition the phantom was tracked with our latest tracking prototype...

Blood vessels course through organs, providing them with essential nutrient and gaseous exchange. However, the vasculature has also been shown to provide non-nutritional signals that play key roles in the control of organ growth, morphogenesis and homeostasis. Here, we examine a decade of work on the contribution of vascular paracrine signals to developing tissues, with a focus on pancreatic β-cells. During the early stages of embryonic development, blood vessels are required for pancreas specification. Later, the vasculature constrains pancreas branching, differentiation and growth. During adult life, capillaries provide a vascular niche for the maintenance of β-cell function and survival. We explore the possibility that the vasculature constitutes a dynamic and regionalized signaling system that carries out multiple and changing functions as it coordinately grows with the pancreatic epithelial tree.

Experience with temporary intravascular shunts (TIVS) for vessel injury comes from the military sector and while the indications might be clear in geographically isolated and under resourced war zones, this may be an uncommon scenario in civilian trauma. Data supporting TIVS use in civilian trauma have been extrapolated from the military literature where it demonstrated improved life and limb salvage. Few non-comparative studies from the civilian literature have also revealed similar favorable outcomes. Still, TIVS placement in civilian vascular injuries is uncommon and by some debatable given the absence of clear indications for placement, the potential for TIVS-related complications, the widespread resources for immediate and definitive vascular repair, and the need for curtailing costs and optimizing resources. This article reviews the current evidence and the role of TIVS in contemporary civilian trauma management. PMID:28775985

Polysplenism and accessory spleen are congenital, usually asymptomatic anomalies. A rare case of polysplenism with ectopic spleen in pelvis of a 67-year-old, Caucasian female is reported here. A transvaginal ultrasound found a soft well-defined homogeneous and vascularized mass in the left pelvis. Patient underwent MRI evaluation and contrast-CT abdominal scan: images with parenchymal aspect, similar to spleen were obtained. Abdominal scintigraphy with 99mTc-albumin nanocolloid was performed and pelvic region was studied with planar scans and SPECT. The results showed the presence of an uptake area of the radiopharmaceutical in the pelvis, while the spleen was normally visualized. These findings confirmed the presence of an accessory spleen with an artery originated from the aorta and a vein that joined with the superior mesenteric vein. To our knowledge, in the literature, there is just only one case of a true ectopic, locally vascularized spleen in the pelvis.

Giving feedback on second language (L2) writing is a challenging task. This research proposed an interactive environment for error correction and corrective feedback. First, we developed an online corrective feedback and error analysis system called "Online Annotator for EFL Writing". The system consisted of five facilities: Document Maker,…

The most common vascular tumors encountered by the otolaryngologist are rare chromaffin cell tumors termed paragangliomas. Within the head and neck region, they commonly arise from the carotid body, vagus nerve (glomus vagale), and jugular vein (glomus jugulare). Other vascular head and neck tumors include sinonasal malignancies, because of proximity to or involvement of the pterygoid plexus as well as the rich vascularity of the sinonasal mucosa; juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma, a vascular tumor of male adolescents; unusual vascular tumors such as hemangiopericytoma; and metastatic renal cell cancer, which has a proclivity for an unusually rich blood supply.

Objective To review the vasorelaxant effects of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in arterial rings in the cardiovascular system under both physiological and pathophysiological conditions and the possible mechanisms involved.Data sources The data in this review were obtained from Medline and Pubmed sources from 1997 to 2011 using the search terms "hydrogen sulfide" and ""vascular relaxation".Study selection Articles describing the role of hydrogen sulfide in the regulation of vascular activity and its vasorelaxant effects were selected.Results H2S plays an important role in the regulation of cardiovascular tone.The vasomodulatory effects of H2S depend on factors including concentration,species and tissue type.The H2S donor,sodium hydrosulfide (NarS),causes vasorelaxation of rat isolated aortic rings in a dose-dependent manner.This effect was more pronounced than that observed in pulmonary arterial rings.The expression of KATP channel proteins and mRNA in the aortic rings was increased compared with pulmonary artery rings.H2S is involved in the pathogenesis of a variety of cardiovascular diseases.Downregulation of the endogenous H2S pathway is an important factor in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases.The vasorelaxant effects of H2S have been shown to be mediated by activation of KATP channels in vascular smooth muscle cells and via the induction of acidification due to activation of the CI/HCO3 exchanger.It is speculated that the mechanisms underlying the vasoconstrictive function of H2S in the aortic rings involves decreased NO production and inhibition of cAMP accumulation.Conclusion H2S is an important endogenous gasotransmitter in the cardiovascular system and acts as a modulator of vascular tone in the homeostatic regulation of blood pressure.

Endothelium is a site of metabolic activity and has a major reservoir of multipotent stem cells. It plays a vital role in the vascular physiological, pathophysiological and reparative processes. Endothelial functions are significantly altered following hypovolemic shock due to ischemia of the endothelial cells and by reperfusion due to resuscitation with fluids. Activation of endothelial cells leads to release of vasoactive substances (nitric oxide, endothelin, platelet activating factor, prostacyclin, mitochondrial N-formyl peptide), mediators of inflammation (tumor necrosis factor α, interleukins, interferons) and thrombosis. Endothelial cell apoptosis is induced following hypovolemic shock due to deprivation of oxygen required by endothelial cell mitochondria; this lack of oxygen initiates an increase in mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) and release of apoptogenic proteins. The glycocalyx structure of endothelium is compromised which causes an impairment of the protective endothelial barrier resulting in increased permeability and leakage of fluids in to the tissue causing edema. Growth factors such as angiopoetins and vascular endothelial growth factors also contribute towards pathophysiology of hypovolemic shock. Endothelium is extremely active with numerous functions, understanding these functions will provide novel targets to design therapeutic agents for the acute management of hypovolemic shock. Hypovolemic shock also occurs in conditions such as dengue shock syndrome and Ebola hemorrhagic fever, defining the role of endothelium in the pathophysiology of these conditions will provide greater insight regarding the functions of endothelial cells in vascular regulation.

Full Text Available Vascular malformations are the benign lesion of the blood vessels or vascular elements and are considered errors of vascular morphogenesis, displaying abnormal dilatations, and channels but no increased cell turnover. Vascular malformations are always present at birth and enlarge in proportion to the growth of the child- They do not involute and remain throughout the patient′s life. 1 These lesions occur with equal sex predilection and do not favor any races. Vascular lesions of the face are not very common Most of the oral and oropharyngeal lesions tend to occur in the tongue and the floor of the mouth. 2 In most cases, the diagnosis of vascular malformations is based on clinical evaluation Here a case report is presented of 16-year-old male patient with vascular malformation of the orofacial region. The clinical presentation, radiological finding are discussed with emphasis on recent advances for diagnosis of the same.

The chemical diversity of estrogen and progestogen components of oral contraceptive (OC) products, their use alone or in combination, and the diversity of treatment regimens and doses account for the majority of contradictions in the immense literature on vascular and metabolic side effects of these hormones. OCs are exclusively composed of synthetic hormones. All OCs impose metabolic modifications on the organism and especially on the hepatic parenchyma due to delayed hepatic degradation. Certain factors increase the risk of vascular accidents associated with OC use: metabolic changes affecting coagulation, lipids, glucides, and arterial hypertension, immunologic phenomena, smoking, and obesity. As a whole, OCs affect coagulation by elevating factors 7 and 10, decreasing antithrombin iii (in high doses), and decreasing plasma fibrinolytic activity. synthetic estrogens cause an elevation of HDL cholesterol, a slight elevation of phospholipids, and a dose-dependent elevation of triglycerides and their VLDL fraction. As a group, progestogens tend to decrease the HDL fraction of cholesterol. Norethindrone is incapable of opposing the hypertriglyceridemic action of synthtic estrogens, while norgestrel partially opposes it. Lipid modifications provoked by combined OCs are a function of the nature and dosage of the components. Among hemodynamic modifications, synthetic estrogens cause elevations in renin substrate, plasma renin activity, angiotensin 2 and aldosterone. Synthetic progestogens may have various effects depending on type and dose, but they do not appear sufficient to cause hypertension unless other factors linked to individual predispositions are present. Microdoses of progestogens alone do not affect the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. Studies have also been conducted on the effect of OCs on cardiac function and on the vascular walls. Prospective studies suggest a relative risk of 3 for venous thromboembolic accidents among OC users, while

... Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents. #0;Prices of new books are listed in the... office, correcting and adding missing cross-references, correcting grammatical errors, revising language... the name of its human capital office, correcting and adding missing cross-references,...

I briefly review three topics of recent interest concerning power corrections, renormalons and Sudakov resummation: (a) 1/Q corrections to event shape observables in e(+)e(-) annihilation, (b) power corrections in Drell-Yan production and (c) factorial divergences that arise in resummation of large infrared (Sudakov) logarithms in moment or `real` space.

The device determines the ratio of the intensity of radiation received by a radiation camera from two separate portions of the object. A correction signal is developed to maintain this ratio at a substantially constant value and this correction signal is combined with the camera signal to correct for object motion. (Official Gazette)

... From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office ] NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION Office of the Federal Register Dates CorrectionCorrection In the Notices section... through 15499, the date at the top of each page is corrected to read ``Monday, March 29, 2010''....

Steadily increasing evidence supports the idea that genetic diversities in the vascular bed are, in addition to hemodynamic influences, a major contributing factor in determining region-specific cardiovascular disease susceptibility. Members of the phylogenetically highly conserved Hox gene family of developmental regulators have to be viewed as prime candidates for determining these regional genetic differences in the vasculature. During embryonic patterning, the regionally distinct and precisely choreographed expression patterns of HOX transcription factors are essential for the correct specification of positional identities. Apparently, these topographic patterns are to some degree retained in certain adult tissues, including the circulatory system. While an understanding of the functional significance of these localized Hox activities in adult blood vessels is only beginning to emerge, an argument can be made for a role of Hox genes in the maintenance of vessel wall homeostasis and functional integrity on the one hand, and in regulating the development and progression of regionally restricted vascular pathologies, on the other. Initial functional studies in animal models, as well as data from clinical studies provide some level of support for this view. The data suggest that putative genetic regulatory networks of Hox-dependent cardiovascular disease processes include genes of diverse functional categories(extracellular matrix remodeling, transmembrane signaling, cell cycle control, inflammatory response, transcriptional control, etc.), as potential targets in both vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cells, as well as cell populations residing in the adventitia.

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Blood vessels are a source of stem and progenitor cells, which likely contribute to a variety of vascular processes and diseases. Emerging concepts in this field could influence therapeutic approaches to diseases of blood vessels such as atherosclerosis. CONTENT: Vascular Stem Cells (VSCs field is only beginning to emerge, and thus, many issues regarding VSCs’s identity and function remain poorly understood. In fact, even after decades of intensive research, Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC, which is suggested to be VSCs, is still having many outstanding issues of its own. And, on top of this, likewise decades-long intensive pericyte research has not been able resolve the identity issue. While favors Adventitial Progenitor Cells (APCs over pericytes as the likely VSC candidate, it should be pointed out that currently the opposite view (i.e., pericytes as VSCs is more prevalent, and many excellent reviews, including a recent one, have discussed this issue extensively. SUMMARY: It has been postulated that, within the vasculature, APCs could differentiate into pericytes (CD34- CD31- CD140b+ SMA-, endothelial cells (CD34+ CD31+ CD140b- SMA-, and smooth muscle cells (SMCs (CD34- CD31- CD140b- SMA+; and during tissue expansion or repair, APCs could also differentiate into tissue-specific cell types (e.g., muscle and fat Thus, in vitro, APCs fulfill all criteria for being VSCs. Meanwhile, in vivo evidence is still limited and will require further investigation. KEYWORDS: vascular stem cells, VSC, mesenchymal stem cells, MSC, endothelial progenitor cells, EPC, adventitial progenitor cells, APC.

We consider supersymmetric near-horizon geometries in heterotic supergravity up to two loop order in sigma model perturbation theory. We identify the conditions for the horizons to admit enhancement of supersymmetry. We show that solutions which undergo supersymmetry enhancement exhibit an {s}{l}(2,{R}) symmetry, and we describe the geometry of their horizon sections. We also prove a modified Lichnerowicz type theorem, incorporating α' corrections, which relates Killing spinors to zero modes of near-horizon Dirac operators. Furthermore, we demonstrate that there are no AdS2 solutions in heterotic supergravity up to second order in α' for which the fields are smooth and the internal space is smooth and compact without boundary. We investigate a class of nearly supersymmetric horizons, for which the gravitino Killing spinor equation is satisfied on the spatial cross sections but not the dilatino one, and present a description of their geometry.

We consider supersymmetric near-horizon geometries in heterotic supergravity up to two loop order in sigma model perturbation theory. We identify the conditions for the horizons to admit enhancement of supersymmetry. We show that solutions which undergo supersymmetry enhancement exhibit an sl(2,R) symmetry, and we describe the geometry of their horizon sections. We also prove a modified Lichnerowicz type theorem, incorporating $\\alpha'$ corrections, which relates Killing spinors to zero modes of near-horizon Dirac operators. Furthermore, we demonstrate that there are no AdS2 solutions in heterotic supergravity up to second order in $\\alpha'$ for which the fields are smooth and the internal space is smooth and compact without boundary. We investigate a class of nearly supersymmetric horizons, for which the gravitino Killing spinor equation is satisfied on the spatial cross sections but not the dilatino one, and present a description of their geometry.

We develop the theory of entanglement-assisted quantum error correcting (EAQEC) codes, a generalization of the stabilizer formalism to the setting in which the sender and receiver have access to pre-shared entanglement. Conventional stabilizer codes are equivalent to dual-containing symplectic codes. In contrast, EAQEC codes do not require the dual-containing condition, which greatly simplifies their construction. We show how any quaternary classical code can be made into a EAQEC code. In particular, efficient modern codes, like LDPC codes, which attain the Shannon capacity, can be made into EAQEC codes attaining the hashing bound. In a quantum computation setting, EAQEC codes give rise to catalytic quantum codes which maintain a region of inherited noiseless qubits. We also give an alternative construction of EAQEC codes by making classical entanglement assisted codes coherent.

If you were a caring, thinking, liberally minded person in the 1960s, you marched against the bomb, against the Vietnam war, and for civil rights. By the 1980s, your voice was raised about the destruction of the rainforests and the threat to our whole planetary environment. At the same time, you opposed discrimination against any group because of race, sex or sexual orientation. You reasoned that people who spoke or acted in a discriminatory manner should be discriminated against. In other words, you became politically correct. Despite its oft-quoted excesses, the political correctness movement sprang from well-founded concerns about injustices in our society. So, on balance, I am all for it. Or, at least, I was until it started to invade science. Biologists were the first to feel the impact. No longer could they refer to 'higher' and 'lower' orders, or 'primitive' forms of life. To the list of undesirable 'isms' - sexism, racism, ageism - had been added a new one: speciesism. Chemists remained immune to the PC invasion, but what else could you expect from a group of people so steeped in tradition that their principal unit, the mole, requires the use of the thoroughly unreconstructed gram? Now it is the turn of the physicists. This time, the offenders are not those who talk disparagingly about other people or animals, but those who refer to 'forms of energy' and 'heat'. Political correctness has evolved into physical correctness. I was always rather fond of the various forms of energy: potential, kinetic, chemical, electrical, sound and so on. My students might merge heat and internal energy into a single, fuzzy concept loosely associated with moving molecules. They might be a little confused at a whole new crop of energies - hydroelectric, solar, wind, geothermal and tidal - but they could tell me what devices turned chemical energy into electrical energy, even if they couldn't quite appreciate that turning tidal energy into geothermal energy wasn't part of the

Full Text Available Objective: to study the specific features of development of cognitive impairments (CIs, the role of traditional cardiovascular risk factors and renal failure-induced factors in patients with Stages I–IV chronic kidney disease (CKD and to assess an association of CIs with the signs of vascular wall remodeling in them. Patients and methods. Fifty-one patients aged 53±10 years with CKD were examined. Among them, there were 20 patients with Stages I–II CKD: a glomerular filtration rate (GFR of і60 ml/min/1.73 m2, signs of renal lesion; 20 with Stages III CKD: a GFR of <60–30 ml/min/1.73 m2, and 11 with Stages VI CKD: a GFR of <30–15 ml/min/1.73 m2. Results and discussion. CIs were more common in the patients with Stages III–IV than in those with Stages I–II, as shown by the scores of the mini-mental state examination (p<0.001, the frontal assessment battery (p=0.001, and the regulatory function test (p<0.001. These tests showed that the magnitude of CIs increased with the higher stage of CKD. Stages III–IV CKD is an independent predictor of CIs in persons with predialysis-stage kidney lesion. CIs were found to be related to hyperhomocysteinemia, anemia, abdominal obesity, left ventricular hypertrophy, and patient age. The signs of atherosclerotic lesion of the common carotid arteries and the indicators of arterial stiffness were also associated with the incidence and magnitude of CIs in CKD. The detection of CIs in patients with early CKD allows one to timely initiate adequate therapy aimed particularly at improving cerebral circulation, eliminating the impact of risk factors, and slowing down the vascular remodeling. The management tactics for patients with CKD must involve the identification and correction of cardiovascular risk factors, and duplex scanning of the wall of the common carotid arteries may be used as a noninvasive method to assess the risk of the development and progression of CIs in predialysis CKD.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) account annually for almost one third of all deaths worldwide. Among the CVD, systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) is related to more than half of those outcomes. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is an independent risk factor for SAH because it causes functional and structural damage to the arterial wall, leading to stiffness. Several studies have related oxidative stress, production of free radicals, and neuroendocrine and genetic changes to the physiopathogenesis of vascular aging. Indirect ways to analyze that aging process have been widely studied, pulse wave velocity (PWV) being considered gold standard to assess arterial stiffness, because there is large epidemiological evidence of its predictive value for cardiovascular events, and it requires little technical knowledge to be performed. A pulse wave is generated during each cardiac contraction and travels along the arterial bed until finding peripheral resistance or any bifurcation point, determining the appearance of a reflected wave. In young individuals, arteries tend to be more elastic, therefore, the reflected wave occurs later in the cardiac cycle, reaching the heart during diastole. In older individuals, however, the reflected wave occurs earlier, reaching the heart during systole. Because PWV is an important biomarker of vascular damage, highly valuable in determining the patient's global cardiovascular risk, we chose to review the articles on vascular aging in the context of cardiovascular risk factors and the tools available to the early identification of that damage. Resumo As doenças cardiovasculares são anualmente responsáveis por quase um terço do total de mortes no mundo. Dentre elas, a hipertensão arterial sistêmica (HAS) está relacionada com mais da metade desses desfechos. O diabetes mellitus tipo 2 é visto com um fator de risco independente para HAS por causar lesões funcionais e estruturais na parede arterial, ocasionando-lhe enrijecimento. Diversos estudos

The acute vascular compression of the duodenum is a well-recognized clinical entity, characterized by recurrent vomiting, abdominal distention, weight loss, post prandial distress. The cause of compression is considered to be effect produced as a result of the angle formed by the superior mesenteric vessels and sometimes by one of its first two branches, and vertebrae and paravertebral muscles, when the angle between superior mesenteric vessels and the aorta it's lower than 18 degrees we can saw this syndrome. The duodenojejunostomy is the best treatment, as well as in our patient.

To investigate the occurrence of vascular comorbidities before and after the clinical onset of multiple sclerosis. In this combined case-control and cohort study, all Danish born citizens with onset of multiple sclerosis 1980-2005 were identified from the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry...... and randomly matched with controls regarding year of birth, gender, and municipality on January 1st in the year of multiple sclerosis (MS) onset (index date). Individual-level information on comorbidities was obtained from several independent nationwide registries and linked to the study population by unique...

Vascular perfusion distribution in fibroids contrast-enhanced ultrasound images provides useful pathological and physiological information, because the extraction of the vascular perfusion area can be helpful to quantitative evaluation of uterine fibroids blood supply. The pixel gray scale in vascular perfusion area of fibroids contrast-enhanced ultrasound image sequences is different from that in other regions, and, based on this, we proposed a method of extracting vascular perfusion area of fibroids. Firstly, we denoised the image sequence, and then we used Brox optical flow method to estimate motion of two adjacent frames, based on the results of the displacement field for motion correction. Finally, we extracted vascular perfusion region from the surrounding background based on the differences in gray scale for the magnitude of the rich blood supply area and lack of blood supply area in ultrasound images sequence. The experimental results showed that the algorithm could accurately extract the vascular perfusion area, reach the precision of identification of clinical perfusion area, and only small amount of calculation was needed and the process was fairly simple.

A neural network model with high nonlinear recognition capability was constructed to describe the relationship between the deformation impact factors and the deformation results of vascular stent.Then,using the weighted correction method with the attached momentum term,the network training algorithm was optimized by introducing learning factor η and momentum factor ψ,so the speed of the network training and the system robustness were enhanced.The network was trained by some practi-cal cases,and the statistical hypothesis validation was made for the predictive errors.It was shown that the average difference between the intelligent predictive result of vascular stent deformation neu-ral network and the nonlinear finite element analysis result was less than 0.03%,and the trained net-work could perfectly predict the vascular stent deformation.Further more,the rapid evaluation tool for the vascular stent mechanics performance was established using the Pro/Toolkit and the intelligent neural network predictive model of vascular stent expansion.The proposed tool system with strong practicality and high efficiency can significantly shorten the product development cycle of vascular stent.

Missile vascular injuries have reached an epidemic proportion in Kashmir valley since the eruption of militancy. The present study was undertaken to analyze the mode, pattern, presentation, and management of missile vascular injuries. A retrospective study of patients with missile vascular injury from January 1990 to October 2008 was undertaken. Five hundred eighty patients with missile vascular injury were studied. All patients with vascular injury due to causes other than missiles were excluded from the study. Most of the patients were treated by interpositional saphenous vein graft or end-to-end anastomosis. The most common complication was wound infection (22.7%) followed by graft occlusion (3.8%). The amputation rate was 3.3% and was higher in patients with a delay of >6 hours to revascularization and associated fractures. Missile vascular injury requires prompt resuscitation and revascularization. Preoperative angiography is seldom necessary. Doppler study may sometimes be needed to aid in the diagnosis.

Full Text Available Most operations in the abdominal cavity and chest can be performed using minimally invasive techniques. As yet it has not been determined which laparoscopic procedures are preferable to the same operations done through conventional laparotomy. However, most surgeons who have completed the learning curves of these procedures believe that most minimally invasive techniques will be scientifically recognized soon. The evolution, validation and justification of advanced laparoscopic surgical methods seem inevitable. Most believe that the trend towards procedures that minimize or eliminate the trauma of surgery while adhering to accepted surgical principles is irreversible. The functional results of laparoscopic antireflux surgery in the seven years since its inception have been virtually identical to the success curves generated with open fundoplication in past years. Furthermore, overall patient outcomes with laparoscopic procedures have been superior to outcomes with the traditional approach. Success is determined by patient selection and operative technique. Patient evaluation should include esophagogastroduodenoscopy, barium swallow, 24 h pH study and esophageal motility study. Gastric emptying also should be evaluated. Patients who have abnormal propulsion in the esophagus should not receive a complete fundoplication (Nissen because it adds a factor of obstruction. Dor or Toupet procedures are adequate alternatives. Prokinetic agents, dilation or pyloroplasty are used for pyloric obstruction ranging from little to more severe. Correcting reflux laparoscopically is more difficult in patients with obesity, peptic strictures, paraesophageal hernias, short esophagus, or a history of previous upper abdominal or antireflux surgery.

Purpose To observe the clinical efficacy of extraordinary vessels needling in treating vascular dementia. Method 39 cases vascular dementia were treated by acupoints selected from the eight extraordinary meridians and the time needling techniques such as eight methods of spiritual turtle, in accordance with time period and pattern identifition. Results 2 cases were cured, 30 cases improved and 7 cases failed; the total effective rate was 82.1%. Conclusion Extraordinary vessels needling has positive effects in treating vascular dementia.

There are multiple diagnostic criteria for vascular dementia (VaD) that may define different populations. Utilizing the criteria of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and Association Internationale pour la Recherche et l'Enseignement en Neurosciences (NINDS-AIREN) has provided improved consistency in the diagnosis of VaD. The criteria include a table listing brain imaging lesions associated with VaD. The different neuroradiological aspects of the criteria are reviewed based on the imaging data from an ongoing large-scale clinical trial testing a new treatment for VaD. The NINDS-AIREN criteria were applied by a centralized imaging rater to determine eligibility for enrollment in 1,202 patients using brain CT or MRI. Based on the above data set, the neuroradiological features that are associated with VaD and that can result from cerebral small-vessel disease with extensive leukoencephalopathy or lacunae (basal ganglia or frontal white matter), or may be the consequence of single strategically located infarcts or multiple infarcts in large-vessel territories, are illustrated. These features may also be the consequence of global cerebral hypoperfusion, intracerebral hemorrhage, or other mechanisms such as genetically determined arteriopathies. Neuroimaging confirmation of cerebrovascular disease in VaD provides information about the topography and severity of vascular lesions. Neuroimaging may also assist with the differential diagnosis of dementia associated with normal pressure hydrocephalus, chronic subdural hematoma, arteriovenous malformation or tumoral diseases. (orig.)

Full Text Available The feasibility of disrupting a tumor’s vascular structure with various radiation types and radionuclides is investigated. Calculated absorbed dose profiles for photons and 4He ions suggest that low-energy beta-gamma and alpha emitting radionuclides can deposit sufficient absorbed dose to disrupt a tumor’s vascular structure while minimizing the dose outside the blood vessel. Candidate radionuclides uniformly distributed in microspheres are theoretically investigated with respect to their vascular disruption potential and to offer an alternative to 90Y microsphere therapy. Requisite activities of candidate low-energy beta-gamma and alpha emitting radionuclides to facilitate vascular disruption are calculated.

Although peripheral arterial disease is prevalent in the primary care setting, insufficient vascular education among nurses and physicians coupled with certain economic constraints undermines treatment efficacy. Moreover, the burden of advanced venous pathology such as posthrombotic syndrome, venous ulcers, and lymphedema remains suboptimally treated. This article advocates the development of a vascular nursing specialty as a means to improving vascular care especially nowadays, when health care providers dictate comprehensive and cost-effective nursing practice and patient management. It also presents the first attempt to organize a Vascular Nursing Educational Session in Greece.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the western world and atherosclerosis is the major common underlying disease. The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis involves local vascular injury, inflammation and oxidative stress as well as vascular calcification. Vascular calcification has long been regarded as a degenerative process leading to mineral deposition in the vascular wall characteristic for late stages of atherosclerosis. However, recent studies identified vascular calcification in early stages of atherosclerosis and its occurrence has been linked to clinical events in patients with cardiovascular disease. Its degree correlates with local vascular inflammation and with the overall impact and the progression of atherosclerosis. Over the last decade, diverse and highly regulated molecular signaling cascades controlling vascular calcification have been described. Local and circulating molecules such as osteopontin, osteoprogerin, leptin and matrix Gla protein were identified as critical regulators of vascular calcification. We here review the current knowledge on molecular pathways of vascular calcification and their relevance for the progression of cardiovascular disease.

This article deals with the organisation of correction in mobile instructional settings. Five sets of video data (>250 h) documenting how learners were instructed to fly aeroplanes, drive cars and ride bicycles in real life traffic were examined to reveal some common features of correction...... exchanges. Through detailed multimodal analysis of participants’ actions, it is shown how instructors systematically elaborate their corrective instructions to include relevant information about the trouble and remedial action – a practice we refer to as unpacking corrections. It is proposed...... that the practice of unpacking the local particulars of corrections (i) provides for the instructional character of the interaction, and (ii) is highly sensitive to the relevant physical and mobile contingencies. These findings contribute to the existing literature on the interactional organisation of correction...

We consider the gravitational correction to (electronic) vacuum polarization in the presence of a gravitational background field. The Dirac propagators for the virtual fermions are modified to include the leading gravitational correction (potential term) which corresponds to a coordinate-dependent fermion mass. The mass term is assumed to be uniform over a length scale commensurate with the virtual electron-positron pair. The on-mass shell renormalization condition ensures that the gravitational correction vanishes on the mass shell of the photon, i.e., the speed of light is unaffected by the quantum field theoretical loop correction, in full agreement with the equivalence principle. Nontrivial corrections are obtained for off-shell, virtual photons. We compare our findings to other works on generalized Lorentz transformations and combined quantum-electrodynamic gravitational corrections to the speed of light which have recently appeared in the literature.

Food is a central component of life in correctional institutions and plays a critical role in the physical and mental health of incarcerated people and the construction of prisoners' identities and relationships. An understanding of the role of food in correctional settings and the effective...... management of food systems may improve outcomes for incarcerated people and help correctional administrators to maximize their health and safety. This report summarizes existing research on food systems in correctional settings and provides examples of food programmes in prison and remand facilities......, including a case study of food-related innovation in the Danish correctional system. It offers specific conclusions for policy-makers, administrators of correctional institutions and prison-food-service professionals, and makes proposals for future research....

The theory of quantum error correction was established more than a decade ago as the primary tool for fighting decoherence in quantum information processing. Although great progress has already been made in this field, limited methods are available in constructing new quantum error correction codes from old codes. Here we exhibit a simple and general method to construct new quantum error correction codes by nesting certain quantum codes together. The problem of finding long quantum error correction codes is reduced to that of searching several short length quantum codes with certain properties. Our method works for all length and all distance codes, and is quite efficient to construct optimal or near optimal codes. Two main known methods in constructing new codes from old codes in quantum error-correction theory, the concatenating and pasting, can be understood in the framework of nested quantum error correction codes.

Processor register protection management is disclosed. In embodiments, a method of processor register protection management can include determining a sensitive logical register for executable code generated by a compiler, generating an error-correction table identifying the sensitive logical register, and storing the error-correction table in a memory accessible by a processor. The processor can be configured to generate a duplicate register of the sensitive logical register identified by the error-correction table.

Full Text Available A comparison of topographic correction methods is conducted for Landsat-5 TM, Landsat-7 ETM+, and SPOT-5 imagery from different geographic areas and seasons. Three successful and known methods are compared: the semi-empirical C correction, the Gamma correction depending on the incidence and exitance angles, and a modified Minnaert approach. In the majority of cases the modified Minnaert approach performed best, but no method is superior in all cases.

The suspension rod is the most important component to reduce the vibration of the washing ma-chine. And there are 3 types of them on the market, 1st one is the simple open type, 2nd is half-open damper rod, and the 3rd one is fully sealed damper rod. We focus on the 3rd type, with the principle that, with the help of spring-damper system, which is consisted of the damping spring, damper case and anti-vibration rub-ber, to bring down the vibration of the running washing machine by the elastic force and damping force. Such rod will face abrade of the inner components after some time usage, and then lead to more vibration during the spin program, the machine will not be able to perform well. We shall mainly analyze the reasons of malfunction of suspension rod, and bring forward the improvement plan, promoting the quality control system.% 吊杆是波轮洗衣机重要的减振部件。目前，市场上有三种结构形式的吊杆，第一种是简单的开放式弹簧吊杆，第二种是半开放式阻尼吊杆，第三种是全封闭的空气阻尼吊杆。其中，空气阻尼吊杆工作原理是依靠减振弹簧，阻尼套筒壳体和防振橡胶组成一个较复杂的弹簧阻尼系统，靠弹力和阻尼力来抑制洗衣机在运行过程中的振动。市场上，采用这种结构形式的吊杆在使用一段时间后，容易发生内部零件磨损，导致吊杆失去减振作用，使洗衣机在脱水阶段振动加大，甚至无法正常使用。本文主要针对波轮洗衣机吊杆故障的原因进行分析，提出改进对策，并推出质量控制系统。

Food is a central component of life in correctional institutions and plays a critical role in the physical and mental health of incarcerated people and the construction of prisoners' identities and relationships. An understanding of the role of food in correctional settings and the effective mana......, including a case study of food-related innovation in the Danish correctional system. It offers specific conclusions for policy-makers, administrators of correctional institutions and prison-food-service professionals, and makes proposals for future research....

Abstract Diabetes and the ageing process independently increase the risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Since incidence of diabetes increases as people get older, the diabetic older adults represent the largest population of diabetic subjects. This group of patients would potentially be threatened by the development of CVD related to both ageing and diabetes. The relationship between CVD, ageing and diabetes is explained by the negative impact of these conditions on vascular function. Functional and clinical evidence supports the role of vascular inflammation induced by the ageing process and by diabetes in vascular impairment and CVD. Inflammatory mechanisms in both aged and diabetic vasculature include pro‐inflammatory cytokines, vascular hyperactivation of nuclear factor‐кB, increased expression of cyclooxygenase and inducible nitric oxide synthase, imbalanced expression of pro/anti‐inflammatory microRNAs, and dysfunctional stress‐response systems (sirtuins, Nrf2). In contrast, there are scarce data regarding the interaction of these mechanisms when ageing and diabetes co‐exist and its impact on vascular function. Older diabetic animals and humans display higher vascular impairment and CVD risk than those either aged or diabetic, suggesting that chronic low‐grade inflammation in ageing creates a vascular environment favouring the mechanisms of vascular damage driven by diabetes. Further research is needed to determine the specific inflammatory mechanisms responsible for exacerbated vascular impairment in older diabetic subjects in order to design effective therapeutic interventions to minimize the impact of vascular inflammation. This would help to prevent or delay CVD and the specific clinical manifestations (cognitive decline, frailty and disability) promoted by diabetes‐induced vascular impairment in the elderly. PMID:26435167

A new orbit correction method, called the eigenvector method with constraints (EVC), is proposed and formulated to unite global and local orbit corrections for ring accelerators, especially synchrotron radiation(SR) sources. The EVC can exactly correct the beam positions at arbitrarily selected ring positions such as light source points, simultaneously reducing closed orbit distortion (COD) around the whole ring. Computer simulations clearly demonstrate these features of the EVC for both cases of the Super-SOR light source and the Advanced Light Source (ALS) that have typical structures of high-brilliance SR sources. In addition, the effects of errors in beam position monitor (BPM) reading and steering magnet setting on the orbit correction are analytically expressed and also compared with the computer simulations. Simulation results show that the EVC is very effective and useful for orbit correction and beam position stabilization in SR sources.

Vascular disease, in this thesis the terms vascular and cardiovascular are used interchangeably, is the number 1 cause of death worldwide. In 2008, 30% of all mortality had a vascular origin. Vascular mortality rates after a first manifestation of vascular disease are decreasing in Western society,

Protecting the brain in vulnerable infants undergoing surgery is a central aspect of perioperative care. Understanding the link between blood flow, oxygen delivery and oxygen consumption leads to a more informed approach to bedside care. In some cases, we need to consider how high can we let the partial pressure of carbon dioxide go before we have concerns about risk of increased cerebral blood volume and change in intracranial hydrodynamics? Alternatively, in almost all such cases, we have to address the question of how low can we let the blood pressure drop before we should be concerned about brain perfusion? This review, provides a basic understanding of brain bioenergetics, hemodynamics, hydrodynamics, autoregulation and vascular homeostasis to changes in blood gases that is fundamental to our thinking about bedside care and monitoring. PMID:24331089

Full Text Available Monitoring the oxygen saturation of an unborn child is an invasive procedure, so far. Transabdominal fetal pulse oximetry is a promising method under research, used to estimate the oxygen saturation of a fetus noninvasively. Due to the nature of the method, the fetal information needs to be extracted from a mixed signal. To properly evaluate signal processing algorithms, a phantom modeling fetal and maternal blood circuits and tissue layers is necessary. This paper presents an improved hardware concept for an artificial vascular system, utilizing an FPGA based CompactRIO System from National Instruments. The experimental model to simulate the maternal and fetal blood pressure curve consists of two identical hydraulic circuits. Each of these circuits consists of a pre-pressure system and an artificial vascular system. Pulse curves are generated by proportional valves, separating these two systems. The dilation of the fetal and maternal artificial vessels in tissue substitutes is measured by transmissive and reflective photoplethysmography. The measurement results from the pressure sensors and the transmissive optical sensors are visualized to show the functionality of the pulse generating systems. The trigger frequency for the maternal valve was set to 1 per second, the fetal valve was actuated at 0.7 per second for validation. The reflective curve, capturing pulsations of the fetal and maternal circuit, was obtained with a high power LED (905 nm as light source. The results show that the system generates pulse curves, similar to its physiological equivalent. Further, the acquired reflective optical signal is modulated by the alternating diameter of the tubes of both circuits, allowing for tests of signal processing algorithms.

Hemophilic arthropathy is a debilitating condition that can develop as a consequence of frequent joint bleeding despite adequate clotting factor replacement. The mechanisms leading to repeated spontaneous bleeding are unknown. We investigated synovial, vascular, stromal, and cartilage changes in response to a single induced hemarthrosis in the FVIII-deficient mouse. We found soft-tissue hyperproliferation with marked induction of neoangiogenesis and evolving abnormal vascular architecture. While soft-tissue changes were rapidly reversible, abnormal vascularity persisted for months and, surprisingly, was also seen in uninjured joints. Vascular changes in FVIII-deficient mice involved pronounced remodeling with expression of α-Smooth Muscle Actin (SMA), Endoglin (CD105), and vascular endothelial growth factor, as well as alterations of joint perfusion as determined by in vivo imaging. Vascular architecture changes and pronounced expression of α-SMA appeared unique to hemophilia, as these were not found in joint tissue obtained from mouse models of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis and from patients with the same conditions. Evidence that vascular changes in hemophilia were significantly associated with bleeding and joint deterioration was obtained prospectively by dynamic in vivo imaging with musculoskeletal ultrasound and power Doppler of 156 joints (elbows, knees, and ankles) in a cohort of 26 patients with hemophilia at baseline and during painful episodes. These observations support the hypothesis that vascular remodeling contributes significantly to bleed propagation and development of hemophilic arthropathy. Based on these findings, the development of molecular targets for angiogenesis inhibition may be considered in this disease.

textabstractVascular malformations arise from errors in the morphological processes that shape the embryonic vascular system during fetal development. These developmental errors result in abnormal clusters of blood vessels. Although these lesions are present at birth, they might not become visible u

to the formation of vasodilators such as nitric oxide (NO) and prostacyclin. In essential hypertension and type II diabetes, the endothelial function and regulation of vascular tone is impaired with consequent increases in peripheral vascular resistance and inadequate regulation of oxygen supply to the skeletal...

@@ Patients with diabetes mellitus have an increased incidence of atherosclerotic vascular disease and infection involving the lower extremities.Lower limb arterial disease is more common among patients with diabetes, and lower limb atherosclerosis is the main cause of lower limb ischemia for these patients.Two types of vascular disease are seen in patients with diabetes.

The ionic and cellular feedback relationships operating to effect the vascular decompensatory modifications were examined to reveal procedures for implementing protective measures guarding against vascular collapse when returning from a weightless environment to that of the earth's gravity. The surgical procedures for preparing the rat cremaster, and the fixation methods are described. Abstracts of publications resulting from this research are included.

Pediatric truncal vascular injuries occur infrequently and have a reported mortality rate of 30% to 50%. This report examines the demographics, mechanisms of injury, associated trauma, and outcome of patients presenting for the past 10 years at a single institution with truncal vascular injuries. A retrospective review (1997-2006) of a pediatric trauma registry at a single institution was undertaken. Seventy-five truncal vascular injuries occurred in 57 patients (age, 12 +/- 3 years); the injury mechanisms were penetrating in 37%. Concomitant injuries occurred with 76%, 62%, and 43% of abdominal, thoracic, and neck vascular injuries, respectively. Nonvascular complications occurred more frequently in patients with abdominal vascular injuries who were hemodynamically unstable on presentation. All patients with thoracic vascular injuries presenting with hemodynamic instability died. In patients with neck vascular injuries, 1 of 2 patients who were hemodynamically unstable died, compared to 1 of 12 patients who died in those who presented hemodynamically stable. Overall survival was 75%. Survival and complications of pediatric truncal vascular injury are related to hemodynamic status at the time of presentation. Associated injuries are higher with trauma involving the abdomen.

Objective To throw a light on the possible factors which might induce resistance of vascular targeting treatment in tumors by reviewing the recent publications in the field of tumor angiogenesis and vascular targeting treatment.Data sources The data used in this review were mainly from Medline and PubMed for relevant English language articles published from 1971 to January 2008. The search terms were "angiogenesis", "vascular targeting treatment" and "endothelial progenitor cells".Study selection Articles involved in the possible influence factors during angiogenesis and vascular targeting treatment were selected, including angiogenic or anti-angiogenic mechanism, tumor vasculature, tumor cells, cancer stem cells and endothelial progenitor cells.Results As a promising strategy vascular targeting treatment still has experimental and clinical setbacks which may term tumor vasculature's resistance to anti-angiogenesis agents. There are several possible explanations for such a resistance that might account for clinical and preclinical failures of anti-angiogenic treatment against tumor.Proangiogenic effect of hypoxia, normal tumor vasculature, escape of tumor cells and tumor vasculogenesis are included.This review reveals some clues which might be helpful to direct future research in order to remove obstacles to vascular targeting treatment.Conclusions Generally and undoubtedly vascular targeting treatment remains a promising strategy. But we still have to realize the existence of a challenging future. Further research is required to enhance our knowledge of vascular targeting treatment strategy before it could make a more substantial success.

textabstractSince the introduction of the AV fistula and the use of interposition graft little improvement has been made in the vascular access field. Still, vascular access related complications, are one of the most important reasons for patient hospitalization, morbidity and even mortality (1,2)

Vascular tumors of the retina and choroid can be seen occasionally. In the following article, the key clinical and diagnostic features of the major retinal and choroidal vascular tumors, their systemic associations, and the literature pertaining to the most currently available treatment strategies are reviewed. PMID:25827544

Background: The main aim of performing a vascular anastomosis is to achieve maximal patency rates. An important factor to achieve that goal is to minimize damage to the vessel walls. Sutures inevitably induce vascular wall damage, which influences the healing of the anastomosis. Over time, several a

textabstractSince the introduction of the AV fistula and the use of interposition graft little improvement has been made in the vascular access field. Still, vascular access related complications, are one of the most important reasons for patient hospitalization, morbidity and even mortality (1,2)

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of and specific preoperative and intraoperative risk factors for postoperative delirium (POD) in electively treated vascular surgery patients. Methods: Between March 2010 and November 2013, all vascular surgery patients were

This article deals with the organisation of correction in mobile instructional settings. Five sets of video data (>250 h) documenting how learners were instructed to fly aeroplanes, drive cars and ride bicycles in real life traffic were examined to reveal some common features of correction exchan...

A feature referenced error correction apparatus utilizing the multiple images of the interstage level image format to compensate for positional...images and by the generation of an error correction signal in response to the sub-frame registration errors. (Author)

The major aims of correction of hypospadias include construction of a neourethra, removal of the chordee, and reduction of the probability of postoperative fistulization. Here, we describe a new technique that can be easily used in cases with subcoronal distal penile hypospadias (even those with chordee) for the construction of the urethra using meatus-based transverse flaps. This new technique was used in 10 patients (mean age, 4.6 years). There were no complications such as fistula formation, chordee recurrence, hematoma formation, or flap necrosis during the follow-up period (mean follow-up period, 13.4 months). We believe that this surgical technique can be used in cases with chordee, carries a low risk of fistula formation, has the advantage of the use of richly vascular flaps for construction of the urethra, and yields a better cosmetic result. Hence, it can safely be used for surgical correction of distal hypospadias.

Vascular management and care has become a truly multidisciplinary enterprise as the number of specialists involved in the treatment of patients with vascular diseases has steadily increased. While in the past, treatments were delivered by individual specialists, in the twenty-first century a team approach is without doubt the most effective strategy. In order to promote professional excellence in this dynamic and rapidly evolving field, a shared knowledge base and interdisciplinary standards need to be established. Pan Vascular Medicine, 2nd edition has been designed to offer such an interdisciplinary platform, providing vascular specialists with state-of-the art descriptive and procedural knowledge. Basic science, diagnostics, and therapy are all comprehensively covered. In a series of succinct, clearly written chapters, renowned specialists introduce and comment on the current international guidelines and present up-to-date reviews of all aspects of vascular care.

Acute vascular abdomen is a severe and life-threatening pathology due to arterial degeneration, leading to hemorrhage or arterial occlusion leading to ischemia. Differential diagnosis of patients with severe abdominal pain and/or shock include several vascular and traumatic diseases, the most common being rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), or less frequently rupture of visceral artery aneurysm. Also acute aortic dissection, iatrogenic injury and acute mesenteric ischemia may lead to acute vascular abdomen. Clinical evaluation of the haemodynamic status of the patient may be very difficult, and may require airway maintenance and ventilation with a rapid treatment of hemorrhagic shock. In the stable patient with an uncertain diagnosis, CT scan, NMR and selective angiography may be helpful in diagnosis before vascular repair. On the contrary, the unstable patient, after hemodynamic resuscitation, must be operated on expeditiously. We present our vascular algorithms, to assess timing of diagnosis and treatment of this severe acute disease.

Full Text Available Obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes are associated with a substantially increased prevalence of vascular fibrosis and stiffness, with attendant increased risk of cardiovascular and chronic kidney disease. Although the underlying mechanisms and mediators of vascular stiffness are not well understood, accumulating evidence supports the role of metabolic and immune dysregulation related to increased adiposity, activation of the renin angiotensin aldosterone system, reduced bioavailable nitric oxide, increased vascular extracellular matrix (ECM and ECM remodeling in the pathogenesis of vascular stiffness. This review will give a brief overview of the relationship between obesity, insulin resistance and increased vascular stiffness to provide a contemporary understanding of the proposed underlying mechanisms and potential therapeutic strategies.

Full Text Available With the high occurrence of cardiovascular disease and increasing numbers of patients requiring vascular access, there is a significant need for small-diameter (<6 mm inner diameter vascular graft that can provide long-term patency. Despite the technological improvements, restenosis and graft thrombosis continue to hamper the success of the implants. Vascular tissue engineering is a new field that has undergone enormous growth over the last decade and has proposed valid solutions for blood vessels repair. The goal of vascular tissue engineering is to produce neovessels and neoorgan tissue from autologous cells using a biodegradable polymer as a scaffold. The most important advantage of tissue-engineered implants is that these tissues can grow, remodel, rebuild, and respond to injury. This review describes the development of polymeric materials over the years and current tissue engineering strategies for the improvement of vascular conduits.

Full Text Available Congenital vascular lesions occur most often in children. Parents of these children take them to maxillofacial surgeons directly or during the treatment of other complications such as infection or jaw bone disorders. Various terms now used are unable to describe the pathogenesis and mechanism of the effect of vascular lesions on growth and development of facial bone. Term of hemangioma is used in almost all cases of congenital and acquired vascular lesions, while fibrosis or shrinkage occurs in some of these lesions over the time. There is also some confusion in describing the vascular lesions which primarily affected bones and soft tissue vascular malformations associated with changes in hard tissues.

Full Text Available The role of the vascular microenvironment in the pathogenesis Systemic Sclerosis (SSc is appreciated clinically as Raynaud's syndrome with capillary nail bed change. This manifestation of vasculopathy is used diagnostically in both limited and diffuse cutaneous subsets of SSc, and is thought to precede fibrosis. The degree of subsequent fibrosis may also be determined by the vascular microenvironment. This paper describes why the vascular microenvironment might determine the degree of end-organ damage that occurs in SSc, with a focus on vascular cell senescence, endothelial progenitor cells (EPC including multipotential mesenchymal stem cells (MSC, pericytes, and angiogenic monocytes. An explanation of the role of EPC, pericytes, and angiogenic monocytes is important to an understanding of SSc pathogenesis. An evolving understanding of the vascular microenvironment in SSc may allow directed treatment.

The search for more efficient thermal cycles has led a growing complexity of these cycles and therefore increased the inter-relationships between the thermodynamic components. This complexity is further enhanced with the over time, due to the occurrence of both natural as early degradation in a more or less degree, of all plant components. Several methodologies have been proposed for creating system for diagnostic / prognostic with the objective to detect these degradations (defects) and quantify the gain that can be obtained in the performance indicators of thermal cycles (usually specific fuel consumption and power net) by the elimination of anomalies. Two points have been emphasized as the most difficult in the development of such systems: the distinction between the performance variation of the components due only to the point of operation outside of these project components, caused by the presence of abnormality in another component (induced malfunction) and a decrease in the performance due to the presence of anomalies in the component itself (intrinsic malfunction). The second difficulty is the quantification of the effects induced by the elimination of each of the present anomalies. This work makes use of the method of reconciliation and using individual models of each component to predict unusual behavior of the same design point. The comparison of data from the system plant information, relating to the current state and data from the models, is used to detect anomalies. The methodology is explained in detail and an application of it in a Rankine cycle is used to well understand, especially in parts for the elimination of induced malfunctions, and related to the induced changes by the elimination of each one of the anomalies.

Full Text Available A lot of confusion exists in daily practice regarding the terminology of vascular anomaly diagnosed in infants! Hemangioma is a vascular tumor and it is NOT a vascular malformation!

Introduction Arteriosclerotic changes can lead to circulatory disturbances in various areas of the human vascular system. In addition to pharmacological therapy and the management of risk factors (e. g. hypertension, diabetes, lipid metabolism disorders, and lifestyle), surgical interventions also play an important role in the treatment of arteriosclerosis. Long-segment arterial occlusions, in particular, can be treated successfully with bypass sur-gery. A number of different materials are available for this type of operation, such as autologous vein or pros-thetic grafts comprised of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or Dacron®. Prosthetic materials are used especially in the treatment of peripheral artery disease, such as in aortoiliac or femoropopliteal bypass surgery. The present report will thus focus on this area in order to examine the effectiveness of different bypass materials. Among the efforts being made to refine the newly introduced DRG system in Germany, analysing the different bypass materials used in vascular surgery is particularly important. Indeed, in its current version the German DRG system does not distinguish between bypass materials in terms of reimbursement rates. Differences in cost structures are thus of especial interest to hospitals in their budget calculations, whereas both private and statutory health insurance funds are primarily interested in long-term results and their costs. Objectives The goal of this HTA is to compare the different bypass materials used in vascular surgery in terms of their medical efficiency and cost-effectiveness, as well as with regard to their ethical, social and legal implications. In addition, this report aims to point out the areas in which further medical, epidemiological and health economic research is still needed. Methods Relevant publications were identified by means of a structured search of databases accessed through the German Institute of Medical Documentation and Information (DIMDI), as well as by

Full Text Available Introduction: Arteriosclerotic changes can lead to circulatory disturbances in various areas of the human vascular system. In addition to pharmacological therapy and the management of risk factors (e. g. hypertension, diabetes, lipid metabolism disorders, and lifestyle, surgical interventions also play an important role in the treatment of arteriosclerosis. Long-segment arterial occlusions, in particular, can be treated successfully with bypass sur-gery. A number of different materials are available for this type of operation, such as autologous vein or pros-thetic grafts comprised of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE or Dacron®. Prosthetic materials are used especially in the treatment of peripheral artery disease, such as in aortoiliac or femoropopliteal bypass surgery. The present report will thus focus on this area in order to examine the effectiveness of different bypass materials. Among the efforts being made to refine the newly introduced DRG system in Germany, analysing the different bypass materials used in vascular surgery is particularly important. Indeed, in its current version the German DRG system does not distinguish between bypass materials in terms of reimbursement rates. Differences in cost structures are thus of especial interest to hospitals in their budget calculations, whereas both private and statutory health insurance funds are primarily interested in long-term results and their costs. Objectives: The goal of this HTA is to compare the different bypass materials used in vascular surgery in terms of their medical efficiency and cost-effectiveness, as well as with regard to their ethical, social and legal implications. In addition, this report aims to point out the areas in which further medical, epidemiological and health economic research is still needed. Methods: Relevant publications were identified by means of a structured search of databases accessed through the German Institute of Medical Documentation and Information

Bolometric corrections are used in quasar studies to quantify total energy output based on a measurement of a monochromatic luminosity. First, we enumerate and discuss the practical difficulties of determining such corrections, then we present bolometric luminosities between 1 \\mu m and 8 keV rest frame and corrections derived from the detailed spectral energy distributions of 63 bright quasars of low to moderate redshift (z = 0.03-1.4). Exploring several mathematical fittings, we provide practical bolometric corrections of the forms L_iso=\\zeta \\lambda L_{\\lambda} and log(L_iso)=A+B log(\\lambda L_{\\lambda}) for \\lambda= 1450, 3000, and 5100 \\AA, where L_iso is the bolometric luminosity calculated under the assumption of isotropy. The significant scatter in the 5100 \\AA\\ bolometric correction can be reduced by adding a first order correction using the optical slope, \\alpha_\\lambda,opt. We recommend an adjustment to the bolometric correction to account for viewing angle and the anisotropic emission expected fr...

We present a general formalism for incorporating the string corrections in generalised geometry, which necessitates the extension of the generalised tangent bundle. Not only are such extensions obstructed, string symmetries and the existence of a well-defined effective action require a precise choice of the (generalised) connection. The action takes a universal form given by a generalised Lichnerowitz--Bismut theorem. As examples of this construction we discuss the corrections linear in $\\alpha'$ in heterotic strings and the absence of such corrections for type II theories.

Several recent publications have focused on the association between the occurrence of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) in diamniotic-monochorionic twins and the presence of a number of selected anatomic placental characteristics (distribution of vascular territory, cord insertion, type and number of inter-twin anastomoses). In contrast, the potential importance of the vascular distribution patterns of the individual twins remains to be elucidated. Based on its gross architectural distribution pattern, chorionic vasculature is traditionally described as disperse, magistral or mixed. The aim of this study was (1) to determine the relative prevalence of these vascular distribution patterns in monochorionic twin placentas, and (2) to correlate these patterns with the presence of TTTS and known anatomic placental features linked to TTTS. The placentas of 89 consecutive diamniotic-monochorionic twins (15 with TTTS, 74 without TTTS), examined at Women and Infants Hospital, were studied. Disperse vascular patterns were seen in 53% of twins, and magistral or mixed patterns in 47%. The prevalence of magistral/mixed vascular patterns was significantly higher in TTTS gestations than in non-TTTS gestations (60% versus 44%, Ppatterns and marginal/velamentous cord insertion, low number of inter-twin anastomoses, and uneven distribution of the vascular territories. These findings suggest that the magistral/mixed vascular distribution pattern may represent an important placental architectural feature contributing to the complex pathophysiology of TTTS.

On the 4th of December 2015, the French authorities officially recognized the birth of a specialty in vascular medicine entitled CO-DES cardiology-vascular/vascular Medicine. France is the 7th country to obtain this specialty after Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia, six countries in the EEC. It has taken years to achieve a long but exciting experience: we went from hopes to disappointments, sometimes with the blues, but lobbying helping… with sustained confidence. This article tells the story of 30 years of struggle to achieve this vascular medicine specialty. Gaston Bachelard wrote: "Nothing is obvious, nothing is given, all is built." For the construction of vascular medicine, we had to overcome many obstacles, nothing was given to us, everything was conquered. Beware "The specialist is one who knows more and more things about an increasingly restricted field, up to 'knowing everything about nothing"' recalled Ralph Barton Ferry, philosopher; so there is room for modesty and humility but also convictions. The physical examination will remain the basis of our exercise. But let us recall the contributions of all those vascular physicians who practiced in the past, together with those currently active, who built day after day, year after year, a vascular medicine of quality. It is because of the trust of our colleagues and our patients that we can occupy the place that is ours today.

Full Text Available The mechanisms involved in vascular homeostasis and disease are mostly dependent on the interactions between blood, vascular smooth muscle, and endothelial cells. There is an accumulation of evidence for the involvement of prostanoids, the arachidonic acid metabolites derived from the cyclooxygenase enzymatic pathway, in physiological and/or pathophysiological conditions. In humans, the prostanoids activate different receptors. The classical prostanoid receptors (DP, EP1–4, FP, IP, and TP are localized at the cell plasma or nuclear membrane. In addition, CRTH2 and the nuclear PPAR receptors are two other targets for prostanoids, namely, prostacyclin (PGI2 or the natural derivatives of prostaglandin D2. While there is little information on the role of CRTH2, there are many reports on PPAR activation and the consecutive expression of genes involved in the human vascular system. The role of the classical prostanoid receptors stimulated by PGI2 and thromboxane in the control of the vascular tone has been largely documented, whereas the other receptor subtypes have been overlooked. There is now increasing evidence that suggests a role of PGE2 and the EP receptor subtypes in the control of the human vascular tone and remodeling of the vascular wall. These receptors are also present on leukocytes and platelets, and they are implicated in most of the inflammatory processes within the vascular wall. Consequently, the EP receptor subtypes or isoforms would provide a novel and specific cardiovascular therapeutic approach in the near future.

The Notch signaling pathway is a highly conserved pathway involved in cell fate determination in embryonic development and also functions in the regulation of physiological processes in several systems. It plays an especially important role in vascular development and physiology by influencing angiogenesis, vessel patterning, arterial/venous specification, and vascular smooth muscle biology. Aberrant or dysregulated Notch signaling is the cause of or a contributing factor to many vascular disorders, including inherited vascular diseases, such as cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, associated with degeneration of the smooth muscle layer in cerebral arteries. Like most signaling pathways, the Notch signaling axis is influenced by complex interactions with mediators of other signaling pathways. This complexity is also compounded by different members of the Notch family having both overlapping and unique functions. Thus, it is vital to fully understand the roles and interactions of each Notch family member in order to effectively and specifically target their exact contributions to vascular disease. In this chapter, we will review the Notch signaling pathway in vascular smooth muscle cells as it relates to vascular development and human disease.

Conclusion: Assessment of vascular invasion is crucial in the evaluation of resectability for pancreatic cancer. MDCT is an accurate diagnostic tool for peripancreatic vascular invasion in cancer pancreas.

To describe the different presentation, diagnostic evaluation, management and outcome of complications of missed vascular injuries. A case series. Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi and Combined Military Hospital, Kharian Cantt, from June 2009 to June 2012. All the patients with vascular injuries missed at the time of causative trauma who reported during this study period were included. Patients presented with acute vascular injuries and iatrogenic aneurysm at the vascular anastomosis site were excluded. All cases were evaluated with either CT or conventional angiography and managed with various open vascular surgical techniques and their results were assessed. Twenty eight patients with missed vascular injury underwent various vascular repairs. Age of patients ranged from 16 to 78 years (mean = 33.7 ± 15.4 years). Male to female ratio was 6:1. Twelve (42.8%) patients presented with pseudoaneurysm alone, 10 (35.7%) with traumatic arteriovenous fistulae, 4 (14.3%) with post-traumatic thrombosis and occlusion and 2 (7.1%) with pseudoaneurysm and hemorrhage. Penetrating injuries were the commonest cause in 19 (67.8%). The time interval between injury and presentation in hospital ranged from 2 to 1300 weeks (mean 228 weeks). Lower limb vessels were affected in 20 (71.4%), the upper limb in 5 (17.8%) and neck vessels in 3 (10.7%). Superficial femoral artery was the most frequently involved artery in 9 (32.1%) cases. Interposition reverse autogenous saphenous vein graft was most common type of repair in all types of missed vascular injuries. One (3.5%) patient had amputation after secondary hemorrhage. Low velocity penetrating trauma was the common cause of missed vascular injury. Pseudoaneurysm was the most common presentation.

Bronchopulmonary fistula (BPF) is a severe complication following lobectomy or pneumonectomy and is associated with a high rate of morbidity and mortality. We have developed a novel minimally invasive method of central BPF closure using Amplatzer vascular plug (AVP) device that was originally designed for the transcatheter closure of vascular structures in patients with small BPF. Patients with BPFs were treated under conscious sedation by bronchoscopic closure of BPFs using AVP. After locating the fistula using bronchography, the self-expanding nitinol made AVP occluder to be delivered under direct bronchoscopic guidance over a loader wire into the fistula followed by bronchography to assure correct device positioning and sealing of the BPF. Six AVPs were placed in five patients, four males and one female, with a mean age of 62.3 years (range: 51-82 years). The underlying disorders and etiologies for BPF development were lobectomy (two patients), pneumonectomy for lung cancer (one patient), lobectomy due to necrotizing pneumonia (one patient), and post-tracheostomy tracheo-pleural fistula (one patient). In all the patients, the bronchoscopic procedure was successful and symptoms related to BPF disappeared following closure by the AVP. The results were maintained over a median follow-up of 9 months (range: 5-34 months). Endobronchial closure using the AVP is a safe and effective method for treatment of small postoperative BPF. The ease of their implantation by bronchoscopy under conscious sedation adds this novel technique to the armatorium of minimally invasive modalities for the treatment of small BPF.

The evolution of colon cancer starts with colon polyps. There are two different types of colon polyps, namely hyperplasias and adenomas. Hyperplasias are benign polyps which are known not to evolve into cancer and, therefore, do not need to be removed. By contrast, adenomas have a strong tendency to become malignant. Therefore, they have to be removed immediately via polypectomy. For this reason, a method to differentiate reliably adenomas from hyperplasias during a preventive medical endoscopy of the colon (colonoscopy) is highly desirable. A recent study has shown that it is possible to distinguish both types of polyps visually by means of their vascularization. Adenomas exhibit a large amount of blood vessel capillaries on their surface whereas hyperplasias show only few of them. In this paper, we show the feasibility of computer-based classification of colon polyps using vascularization features. The proposed classification algorithm consists of several steps: For the critical part of vessel segmentation, we implemented and compared two segmentation algorithms. After a skeletonization of the detected blood vessel candidates, we used the results as seed points for the Fast Marching algorithm which is used to segment the whole vessel lumen. Subsequently, features are computed from this segmentation which are then used to classify the polyps. In leave-one-out tests on our polyp database (56 polyps), we achieve a correct classification rate of approximately 90%.

Evolving new technologies in vascular access mandate increased attention to patient safety; an often overlooked yet valuable training tool is simulation. For the end-stage renal disease patient, simulation tools are effective for all aspects of creating access for peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis. Based on aviation principles, known as crew resource management, we place equal emphasis on team training as individual training to improve interactions between team members and systems, cumulating in improved safety. Simulation allows for environmental control and standardized procedures, letting the trainee practice and correct mistakes without harm to patients, compared with traditional patient-based training. Vascular access simulators range from suture devices, to pressurized tunneled conduits for needle cannulation, to computer-based interventional simulators. Simulation training includes simulated case learning, root cause analysis of adverse outcomes, and continual update and refinement of concepts. Implementation of effective human to complex systems interaction in end-stage renal disease patients involves a change in institutional culture. Three concepts discussed in this article are as follows: (1) the need for user-friendly systems and technology to enhance performance, (2) the necessity for members to both train and work together as a team, and (3) the team assigned to use the system must test and practice it to a proficient level before safely using the system on patients.

Full Text Available Hypertension is a common disorder with uncertain etiology. In the last several years, it has become evident that components of both the innate and adaptive immune system play an essential role in hypertension. Macrophages and T cells accumulate in the perivascular fat, the heart and the kidney of hypertensive patients and in animals with experimental hypertension. Various immunosuppressive agents lower blood pressure and prevent end-organ damage. Mice lacking lymphocytes are protected against hypertension, and adoptive transfer of T cells, but not B cells in the animals restores their blood pressure response to stimuli such as angiotensin II or high salt. Recent studies have shown that mice lacking macrophages have blunted hypertension in response to angiotensin II and that genetic deletion of macrophages markedly reduces experimental hypertension. Dendritic cells have also been implicated in this disease. Many hypertensive stimuli have triggering effects on the central nervous system and signals arising from the circumventricular organ seem to promote inflammation. Studies have suggested that central signals activate macrophages and T cells, which home to the kidney and vasculature and release cytokines, including IL-6 and IL-17, which in turn cause renal and vascular dysfunction and lead to blood pressure elevation. These recent discoveries provide a new understanding of hypertension and provide novel therapeutic opportunities for treatment of this serious disease.

The modulation of dopamine DA1 receptors of cultured rat renal arterial smooth muscle cells by phorbol ester, glucocorticoid and sodium chloride was studied. The extent of [3H]Sch-23390 binding to phorbol ester-treated cell was increased without any change in the dissociation constant (Kd). At a concentration of 10 nmol/l, the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone increased maximum receptor binding (Bmax) but had no effect on the Kd. 100 mmol/l sodium chloride did not change Bmax, but increased the Kd for DA1 receptor. The production of cAMP in response to DA1 receptor stimulation was enhanced without any change of the adenylate cyclase activity. The glucocorticoid effect on DA1 of arterial smooth muscle cells became apparent after hours of incubation in the presence of the steroid and was significantly inhibited by cycloheximide (10 micrograms/ml) and by the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU-38486, indicating that the effect required protein synthesis through glucocorticoid receptors. Treatment of cells with 1 mumol/l dexamethasone for 24 h increased basal and DA1-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity. Basal adenylate cyclase was decreased by sodium chloride in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest differential control of DA1 receptors on vascular smooth muscle cells by protein kinase C, glucocorticoid or sodium chloride.

Vascular malformations are a very heterogeneous group of circulatory system's diseases that can involve different kind of vessels: arterial, venous or lymphatic ones. Many treatments, such as conventional surgery, embolization, steroid therapy and laser therapy, are available for vascular lesions. The laser approach relies more therapeutic techniques: the transmucosal thermophotocoagulation, intralesional photocoagulation, the excisional biopsy. Today laser is demonstrated to be the gold standard technique to treat vascular lesions that allows a safe and efficient treatment and a lower post-operative healing time. The only disadvantage is the risk of carbonization that could be avoided by using the multiple-spot single pulsed wave technique.

Sufficient uteroplacental blood flow is essential for normal pregnancy outcome and is accomplished by the coordinated growth and remodeling of the entire uterine circulation, as well as the creation of a new fetal vascular organ: the placenta. The process of remodeling involves a number of cellular processes, including hyperplasia and hypertrophy, rearrangement of existing elements, and changes in extracellular matrix. In this review, we provide information on uterine blood flow increases during pregnancy, the influence of placentation type on the distribution of uterine vascular resistance, consideration of the patterns, nature, and extent of maternal uterine vascular remodeling during pregnancy, and what is known about the underlying cellular mechanisms.

Vascular anomalies can be detected in utero and should be considered in the setting of solid, mixed or cystic lesions in the fetus. Evaluation of the gray-scale and color Doppler US and MRI characteristics can guide diagnosis. We present a case-based pictorial essay to illustrate the prenatal imaging characteristics in 11 pregnancies with vascular malformations (5 lymphatic malformations, 2 Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome, 1 venous-lymphatic malformation, 1 Parkes-Weber syndrome) and vascular tumors (1 congenital hemangioma, 1 kaposiform hemangioendothelioma). Concordance between prenatal and postnatal diagnoses is analyzed, with further discussion regarding potential pitfalls in identification. (orig.)

This paper presents an approach to spelling correction in agglutinative languages that is based on two-level morphology and a dynamic programming based search algorithm. Spelling correction in agglutinative languages is significantly different than in languages like English. The concept of a word in such languages is much wider that the entries found in a dictionary, owing to {}~productive word formation by derivational and inflectional affixations. After an overview of certain issues and relevant mathematical preliminaries, we formally present the problem and our solution. We then present results from our experiments with spelling correction in Turkish, a Ural--Altaic agglutinative language. Our results indicate that we can find the intended correct word in 95\\% of the cases and offer it as the first candidate in 74\\% of the cases, when the edit distance is 1.

In Free Electron Lasers (FEL), a transverse centroid misalignment of longitudinal slices in an electron bunch reduces the effective overlap between radiation field and electron bunch and therefore the FEL performance. The dominant sources of slice misalignments for FELs are the incoherent and coherent synchrotron radiation within bunch compressors as well as transverse wake fields in the accelerating cavities. This is of particular importance for over-compression which is required for one of the key operation modes for the SwissFEL planned at the Paul Scherrer Institute. The centroid shift is corrected using corrector magnets in dispersive sections, e.g. the bunch compressors. First and second order corrections are achieved by pairs of sextupole and quadrupole magnets in the horizontal plane while skew quadrupoles correct to first order in the vertical plane. Simulations and measurements at the SwissFEL Injector Test Facility are done to investigate the proposed correction scheme for SwissFEL. This paper pres...

A general correcting formula of forecasting (as a framework for long-use and standardized forecasts) is proposed. The formula provides new forecasting resources and areas of application including economic forecasting.

We present the lowest order quantum correction to the semiclassical Boltzmann distribution function,and the equation satisfied by this correction is given. Our equation for the quantum correction is obtained from the conventional quantum Boltzmann equation by explicitly expressing the Planck constant in the gradient approximation,and the quantum Wigner distribution function is expanded in pow-ers of Planck constant,too. The negative quantum correlation in the Wigner dis-tribution function which is just the quantum correction terms is naturally singled out,thus obviating the need for the Husimi’s coarse grain averaging that is usually done to remove the negative quantum part of the Wigner distribution function. We also discuss the classical limit of quantum thermodynamic entropy in the above framework.

A general correcting formula of forecasting (as a framework for long-use and standardized forecasts) is proposed. The formula provides new forecasting resources and areas of application including economic forecasting.

Full Text Available Paul Y Takahashi, Casey R Caldwell, Paul V TargonskiPrimary Care Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN, USABackground: Vascular dementia (VaD is a challenging illness that affects the lives of older adults and caregivers. It is unclear how multiple vascular risk factor exposures (polyvascular disease affect VaD.Purpose: To determine the relationship between multiple vascular risk exposures, as counted on an index in cases with VaD, compared with healthy age-/gender-matched controls.Methods: This was a matched case-control study of subjects living in Olmsted County, MN with documented VaD. Controls were selected by gender and age within 3 years from those who did not have dementia. The exposures included a total index (eleven exposure factors added together, along with indexes for cerebrovascular disease (two exposures, cardiovascular disease (four exposures, vascular disease (three exposures, and lifestyle (two exposures. Analysis used matched conditional univariable logistic regression for each index.Results: A total of 1736 potential subjects were identified, and 205 subjects were diagnosed with VaD. There was a significant association of the total score index with an odds ratio of 1.45 (95% confidence interval 1.21–1.74. The cerebrovascular index was also associated with VaD with an odds ratio of 12.18 (95% confidence interval 6.29–23.61. The cardiovascular and vascular indexes were also associated with VaD status. The lifestyle index was not associated with VaD.Conclusion: The cumulative role of multiple vascular risk factors or diseases increased the risk of VaD, as noted by the total vascular index. The lifestyle index did not reveal any significant differences. Further work is required for evaluation of these indexes.Keywords: polyvascular disease, elderly, vascular dementia

Forward error correction codes for 100 Gb/s optical transmission are currently receiving much attention from transport network operators and technology providers. We discuss the performance of hard decision decoding using product type codes that cover a single OTN frame or a small number...... of such frames. In particular we argue that a three-error correcting BCH is the best choice for the component code in such systems....

The Bose condensation of the scalar field in a theory behaving in the Coleman-Weinberg mode is considered. The effective potential of the model is computed within the semiclassical approximation in a dimensional regularization scheme. Radiative corrections are shown to introduce certain ..mu..-dependent ultraviolet divergences in the effective potential coming from the Many-Particle theory. The weight of radiative corrections in the dynamics of the system is strongly modified by the charge density.

Task 2. Proving Program Correctness (P.I.: J.C. Reynolds). This group is working towards programming languaje designs which increase the probability...certain syntactic difficulties: the natural abstract syntax is ambiguous, and syntactic correctness is violated by certain beta reductions. 3 - These...concept of a functor to express a-sp- priat : restrictions on implicit conversion functions. In a similar v-’.1n, we can use the concept of a natural

Primary endo-GIA stapler malfunction occurred during robotic wedge resection of liver segments VII and VIII en-bloc with the right hepatic vein, in an obese woman diagnosed with single liver metastasis from a previous carcinoid tumour. Haemorrhage was soon controlled by clamping the vena cava below the injury using two wristed forceps angled at 90 degrees . With the two instruments locked in the holding position the ensuing operative strategy was discussed between surgeon and anaesthesia teams. Using the third robotic arm the caval injury was repaired laparoscopically with interrupted polypropylene sutures. The patient was transfused with two units of packed red blood cells, recovered uneventfully, and was discharged on post-operative day five. We conclude that even the most advanced technologies can fail and that surgeons should be fully aware of the consequences of these malfunctions and be prepared for repair. From this point of view, the da Vinci surgical system seems to have some advantages over classical laparoscopic methods including the ability to lock the wristed instruments in the holding position, the use of three arms by the same operating surgeon, and the extreme facilitation of intracorporeal suturing and knot-tying in deep and narrow spaces, extremely difficult if not impossible with conventional laparoscopic instruments.

Quantum error correction (QEC) and fault-tolerant quantum computation represent one of the most vital theoretical aspects of quantum information processing. It was well known from the early developments of this exciting field that the fragility of coherent quantum systems would be a catastrophic obstacle to the development of large-scale quantum computers. The introduction of quantum error correction in 1995 showed that active techniques could be employed to mitigate this fatal problem. However, quantum error correction and fault-tolerant computation is now a much larger field and many new codes, techniques, and methodologies have been developed to implement error correction for large-scale quantum algorithms. In response, we have attempted to summarize the basic aspects of quantum error correction and fault-tolerance, not as a detailed guide, but rather as a basic introduction. The development in this area has been so pronounced that many in the field of quantum information, specifically researchers who are new to quantum information or people focused on the many other important issues in quantum computation, have found it difficult to keep up with the general formalisms and methodologies employed in this area. Rather than introducing these concepts from a rigorous mathematical and computer science framework, we instead examine error correction and fault-tolerance largely through detailed examples, which are more relevant to experimentalists today and in the near future.

We present quasar bolometric corrections using the [O III] λ 5007 narrow emission line luminosity based on the detailed spectral energy distributions of 53 bright quasars at low to moderate redshift (0.0345 diversity, introduces scatter into the L_{[O III]}-Liso relationship. We found that the {[O III]} bolometric correction can be significantly improved by adding a term including the equivalent width ratio R_{Fe II} ≡ EW_{{Fe II}}/EW_{Hβ }, which is an EV1 indicator. Inclusion of R_{Fe II} in predicting Liso is significant at nearly the 3σ level and reduces the scatter and systematic offset of the luminosity residuals. Typically, {[O III]} bolometric corrections are adopted for Type 2 sources where the quasar continuum is not observed and in these cases, R_{Fe II} cannot be measured. We searched for an alternative measure of EV1 that could be measured in the optical spectra of Type 2 sources but were unable to identify one. Thus, the main contribution of this work is to present an improved {[O III]} bolometric correction based on measured bolometric luminosities and highlight the EV1 dependence of the correction in Type 1 sources.

Full Text Available Posttranscriptional control of gene expression is crucial for regulating plurality of proteins and functional plasticity of the proteome under (pathophysiologic conditions. Alternative splicing as well as micro (miRNA-mediated mechanisms play an important role for the regulation of protein expression on posttranscriptional level. Both alternative splicing and miRNAs were shown to influence cardiovascular functions, such as endothelial thrombogenicity and the vascular tone, by regulating the expression of several vascular proteins and their isoforms, such as Tissue Factor (TF or the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS. This review will summarize and discuss the latest findings on the (pathophysiologic role of alternative splicing processes as well as of miRNAs on modulation of vascular functions, such as coagulation, thrombosis, and regulation of the vascular tone.

Apoptosis is a form of genetically programmed cell death, which plays a key role in regulation of cellularity in a variety of tissue and cell types including the cardiovascular tissues. Under both physiological and pathophysiological conditions, various biophysiological and biochemical factors, including mechanical forces, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, cytokines, growth factors, oxidized lipoproteins, etc., may influence apoptosis of vascular cells. The Fas/Fas ligand/caspase death-signaling pathway, Bcl-2 protein family/mitochondria, the tumor suppressive gene p53, and the proto-oncogene c-myc may be activated in atherosclerotic lesions, and mediates vascular apoptosis during the development of atherosclerosis. Abnormal expression and dysfunction of these apoptosis-regulating genes may attenuate or accelerate vascular cell apoptosis and affect the integrity and stability of atherosclerotic plaques. Clarification of the molecular mechanism that regulates apoptosis may help design a new strategy for treatment of atherosclerosis and its major complication, the acute vascular syndromes.

The presidential address describes briefly the history of the World Federation for Vascular Societies (WFVS) and its objectives. Vascular Surgery today includes interventional procedures (open surgical and endovascular) in addition to risk factor reduction and medical treatment. It is equally imp...... throughout the world. In addition, for introduction of new treatments, training issues and dissemination of science a global organisation like the WFVS is needed.......The presidential address describes briefly the history of the World Federation for Vascular Societies (WFVS) and its objectives. Vascular Surgery today includes interventional procedures (open surgical and endovascular) in addition to risk factor reduction and medical treatment. It is equally....... Similar, in order to be able to train with relevant case mix and numbers, and in order always to have both complex open and endovascular skills on call 24 hours per day, 365 days a year, centralisation into larger units is necessary. The WFVS is important simply looking at the huge demographic differences...

Vascular trauma from large-dog bites present with a combination of crush and lacerating injuries to the vessel, as well as significant adjacent soft tissue injury and a high potential for wound complications...

Vascular dementia due to multiple large strokes (multi-infarct dementia) is a well known entity. However, new clinicopathologic and neuroimaging data have highlighted the common occurrence of small vessel and microscopic vascular pathology in aging brains and recognized that vascular dementia due to small lesions is probably the most common form. In such cases, cortical microinfarcts are the strongest correlate of global cognitive function followed by basal ganglia and thalamic lacunes. Demyelination is only weekly associated with cognition and this relation is no longer significant after adjustement for the presence of lacunes. Awareness of the importance of small vascular lesions in brain aging, can improve diagnostic accuracy and help identify new targets, that could lead to novel therapeutic approaches in old age dementia.

In this review paper introduction of new technologies in vascular surgery is discussed. The difficulties compared to introduction of pharmacological treatment are analyzed. Pros and cons with randomized controlled trials and observational studies are listed.

Hydrogels are commonly used biomaterials for tissue engineering. With their high-water content, good biocompatibility and biodegradability they resemble the natural extracellular environment and have been widely used as scaffolds for 3D cell culture and studies of cell biology. The possible size of such hydrogel constructs with embedded cells is limited by the cellular demand for oxygen and nutrients. For the fabrication of large and complex tissue constructs, vascular structures become necessary within the hydrogels to supply the encapsulated cells. In this review, we discuss the types of hydrogels that are currently used for the fabrication of constructs with embedded vascular networks, the key properties of hydrogels needed for this purpose and current techniques to engineer perfusable vascular structures into these hydrogels. We then discuss directions for future research aimed at engineering of vascularized tissue for implantation.

Full Text Available All vascular implants, including stents, heart valves and graft materials exhibit suboptimal biocompatibility that significantly reduces their clinical efficacy. A range of biomolecules in the subendothelial space have been shown to play critical roles in local regulation of thrombosis, endothelial growth and smooth muscle cell proliferation, making these attractive candidates for modulation of vascular device biointegration. However, classically used biomaterial coatings, such as fibronectin and laminin, modulate only one of these components; enhancing endothelial cell attachment, but also activating platelets and triggering thrombosis. This review examines a subset of extracellular matrix molecules that have demonstrated multi-faceted vascular compatibility and accordingly are promising candidates to improve the biointegration of vascular biomaterials.

Platelets and vascular cells play a fundamental role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases including thrombus formation and atherosclerotic phenomena. Preparations of platelets and aortic rings have been developed to study the potential of xenobiotics to produce evidence of vascular toxicity in vitro. The xenobiotics cadmium and mercury which exert vascular toxicity in vivo, modify platelet and endothelial-cell reactivity in these in vitro systems.

It has been suggested that migraine is caused by neural dysfunction without involvement of vasodilatation. Because dismissal of vascular mechanisms seemed premature, we examined diameter of extra- and intracranial vessels in migraine without aura patients.......It has been suggested that migraine is caused by neural dysfunction without involvement of vasodilatation. Because dismissal of vascular mechanisms seemed premature, we examined diameter of extra- and intracranial vessels in migraine without aura patients....

When making decisions regarding vascular access creation, the clinician and vascular access team must evaluate each patient individually with consideration of life expectancy, timelines for dialysis start, risks and benefits of access creation, referral wait times, as well as the risk for access complications. The role of the multidisciplinary team in facilitating access choice is reviewed, as well as the clinical evaluation of the patient. PMID:28270917

Biomimicry is in its earliest stages and is being considered in the realm of tissue engineering. If arterial implants are to limit neointimal thickening, purely passive structures cannot succeed. Bioactivity must be present, either by pharmacologic intervention or by fabricating a 'living stent' that contains active cellular material. As tissue engineering evolves, useful solutions will emerge from applying this knowledge directly to vascular biologic problems resulting from angioplasty, stenting, and vascular prosthesis research.

The dramatic impact that vascular diseases have on human life quality and expectancy nowadays is the reason why both medical and scientific communities put great effort in discovering new and effective ways to fight vascular pathologies. Among the many different treatments, endovascular surgery is a minimally-invasive technique that makes use of X-ray fluoroscopy to obtain real-time images of the patient during interventions. In this context radiopaque biomaterials, i.e. materials able to abs...

Full Text Available Previous research on vascular calcification has mainly focused on the vascular intima and media. However, we show here that vascular calcification may also occur in the adventitia. The purpose of this work is to help elucidate the pathogenic mechanisms underlying vascular calcification. The calcified lesions were examined by Von Kossa staining in ApoE-/- mice which were fed high fat diets (HFD for 48 weeks and human subjects aged 60 years and older that had died of coronary heart disease, heart failure or acute renal failure. Explant cultured fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells (SMCswere obtained from rat adventitia and media, respectively. After calcification induction, cells were collected for Alizarin Red S staining. Calcified lesions were observed in the aorta adventitia and coronary artery adventitia of ApoE-/-mice, as well as in the aorta adventitia of human subjects examined. Explant culture of fibroblasts, the primary cell type comprising the adventitia, was successfully induced for calcification after incubation with TGF-β1 (20 ng/ml + mineralization media for 4 days, and the phenotype conversion vascular adventitia fibroblasts into myofibroblasts was identified. Culture of SMCs, which comprise only a small percentage of all cells in the adventitia, in calcifying medium for 14 days resulted in significant calcification.Vascular calcification can occur in the adventitia. Adventitia calcification may arise from the fibroblasts which were transformed into myofibroblasts or smooth muscle cells.

In this paper we present a new method of normal move-out (NMO) correction called local stretch zeroing (LSZ) method that avoids NMO stretch. The method eliminates the theoretical curves that generate interpolated data samples responsible for NMO stretch. Pre-correction time sampling interval is preserved by reassigning and zero padding of true data samples. The optimum mute zone selection feature of the LSZ method eliminates all interfering reflection events at far offsets. The resulted stacked section from the LSZ method contains generally higher frequency components than a normal stack, and preserves most of the shallow reflectors. The LSZ method requires that zero-offset width of the time gate, i.e. zero-offset time difference between two adjacent reflections, be larger than the dominant period. The major shortcoming of the method occurs when CMP data are over- or under-NMO corrected. Both synthetic and real world examples show the efficiency of the LSZ method over the conventional NMO (CNMO) correction. The method loses its superiority when CMP data are over- or under-NMO corrected.

Background Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a commonly fatal pulmonary vascular disease that is often diagnosed late and is characterised by a progressive rise in pulmonary vascular resistance resulting from typical vascular remodelling. Recent data suggest that vascular damage plays an impo

Hypertension is one of the most common vascular risk factors, and is an important cause of development of different vascular diseases. The main aim of this thesis was to determine the burden of hypertension-associated vascular diseases and end-organ damage in patients with manifest vascular disease.

Hypertension is one of the most common vascular risk factors, and is an important cause of development of different vascular diseases. The main aim of this thesis was to determine the burden of hypertension-associated vascular diseases and end-organ damage in patients with manifest vascular disease.

@@ Subclavian vascular injury accounts for 1%-5 % of all vascular injuries. If not found in time or managed swiftly, subclavian vascular injury is likely to cause hemorrhagic shock and even death. From March of 1998 through August of 2003, a total of 15 cases with subclavian vascular injury were treated in our department. The details are described in this report.

1. The first photograph on p12 of News in Physics Educaton January 2004 is of Prof. Paul Black and not Prof. Jonathan Osborne, as stated. 2. The review of Flowlog on p209 of the March 2004 issue wrongly gives the maximum sampling rate of the analogue inputs as 25 kHz (40 ms) instead of 25 kHz (40 µs) and the digital inputs as 100 kHz (10 ms) instead of 100 kHz (10 µs). 3. The letter entitled 'A trial of two energies' by Eric McIldowie on pp212-4 of the March 2004 issue was edited to fit the space available. We regret that a few small errors were made in doing this. Rather than detail these, the interested reader can access the whole of the original letter as a Word file from the link below.

Because of a production error, the photographs of pierre Chambon and Harald zur Hausen, which appeared on pages 1116 and 1117 of last week's issue (22 November), were transposed. Here's what you should have seen: Chambon is on the left, zur Hausen on the right.

Synsedimentary deformation in the Jurassic of southeastern Utah—A case of impact shaking? COMMENT Geology, v. 27, p. 661 (July 1999) The sentence on p. 661, first column, second paragraph, line one, should read: The 1600 m of Pennsylvania Paradox Formation is 75 90% salt in Arches National Park. The sentence on p. 661, second column, third paragraph, line seven, should read: This high-pressured ydrothermal solution created the clastic dikes, chert nodules from reprecipitated siliceous cement that have been called “siliceous impactites” (Kriens et al., 1997), and much of the present structure at Upheaval Dome by further faulting.

The feature article “Neutrons for new drugs” (August pp26-29) stated that neutron crystallography was used to determine the structures of “wellknown complex biological molecules such as lysine, insulin and trypsin”.

From left to right: Luis, Carmen, Mario, Christian and José listening to speeches by theorists Alvaro De Rújula and Luis Alvarez-Gaumé (right) at their farewell gathering on 15 May.We unfortunately cut out a part of the "Word of thanks" from the team retiring from Restaurant No. 1. The complete message is published below: Dear friends, You are the true "nucleus" of CERN. Every member of this extraordinary human mosaic will always remain in our affections and in our thoughts. We have all been very touched by your spontaneous generosity. Arrivederci, Mario Au revoir,Christian Hasta Siempre Carmen, José and Luis PS: Lots of love to the theory team and to the hidden organisers. So long!

A Boolean function f over n variables is said to be q-locally correctable if, given a black-box access to a function g which is "close" to an isomorphism f_sigma of f, we can compute f_sigma(x) for any x in Z_2^n with good probability using q queries to g. We observe that any k-junta, that is, any function which depends only on k of its input variables, is O(2^k)-locally correctable. Moreover, we show that there are examples where this is essentially best possible, and locally correcting some k-juntas requires a number of queries which is exponential in k. These examples, however, are far from being typical, and indeed we prove that for almost every k-junta, O(k log k) queries suffice.

We investigate the geometry of four dimensional black hole solutions in the presence of stringy higher curvature corrections to the low energy effective action. For certain supersymmetric two charge black holes these corrections drastically alter the causal structure of the solution, converting seemingly pathological null singularities into timelike singularities hidden behind a finite area horizon. We establish, analytically and numerically, that the string-corrected two-charge black hole metric has the same Penrose diagram as the extremal four-charge black hole. The higher derivative terms lead to another dramatic effect -- the gravitational force exerted by a black hole on an inertial observer is no longer purely attractive! The magnitude of this effect is related to the size of the compactification manifold.

We investigate the geometry of four dimensional black hole solutions in the presence of stringy higher curvature corrections to the low energy effective action. For certain supersymmetric two charge black holes these corrections drastically alter the causal structure of the solution, converting seemingly pathological null singularities into timelike singularities hidden behind a finite area horizon. We establish, analytically and numerically, that the string-corrected two-charge black hole metric has the same Penrose diagram as the extremal four-charge black hole. The higher derivative terms lead to another dramatic effect - the gravitational force exerted by a black hole on an inertial observer is no longer purely attractive{exclamation_point} The magnitude of this effect is related to the size of the compactification manifold.

The resolution of conventional electron microscopes is limited by spherical and chromatic aberrations. Both defects are unavoidable in the case of static rotationally symmetric electromagnetic fields (Scherzer theorem). Multipole correctors and electron mirrros have been designed and built, which compensate for these aberrations. The principles of correction will be demonstrated for the tetrode mirror, the quadrupole-octopole corrector and the hexapole corrector. Electron mirrors require a magnetic beam separator free of second-order aberrations. The multipole correctors are highly symmetric telescopic systems compensating for the defects of the objective lens. The hexapole corrector has the most simple structure yet eliminates only the spherical aberration, whereas the mirror and the quadrupole-octopole corrector are able to correct for both aberrations. Chromatic correction is achieved in the latter corrector by cossed electric and magnetic quadrupoles acting as first-order Wien filters. Micrographs obtaine...

An important element in a model of non-singular string cosmology is a phase in which classical corrections saturate the growth of curvature in a deSitter-like phase with a linearly growing dilaton (an `algebraic fixed point'). As the form of the classical corrections is not well known, here we look for evidence, based on a suggested symmetry of the action, scale factor duality and on conformal field theory considerations, that they can produce this saturation. It has previously been observed that imposing scale factor duality on the $O(\\alpha')$ corrections is not compatible with fixed point behavior. Here we present arguments that these problems persist to all orders in $\\alpha'$. We also present evidence for the form of a solution to the equations of motion using conformal perturbation theory, examine its implications for the form of the effective action and find novel fixed point structure.

An important element in a model of non-singular string cosmology is a phase in which classical corrections saturate the growth of curvature in a deSitter-like phase with a linearly growing dilaton (an `algebraic fixed point'). As the form of the classical corrections is not well known, here we look for evidence, based on a suggested symmetry of the action, scale factor duality and on conformal field theory considerations, that they can produce this saturation. It has previously been observed that imposing scale factor duality on the O(alpha') corrections is not compatible with fixed point behavior. Here we present arguments that these problems persist to all orders in alpha'. We also present evidence for the form of a solution to the equations of motion using conformal perturbation theory, examine its implications for the form of the effective action and find novel fixed point structure.

We consider network coding for networks experiencing worst-case bit-flip errors, and argue that this is a reasonable model for highly dynamic wireless network transmissions. We demonstrate that in this setup prior network error-correcting schemes can be arbitrarily far from achieving the optimal network throughput. We propose a new metric for errors under this model. Using this metric, we prove a new Hamming-type upper bound on the network capacity. We also show a commensurate lower bound based on GV-type codes that can be used for error-correction. The codes used to attain the lower bound are non-coherent (do not require prior knowledge of network topology). The end-to-end nature of our design enables our codes to be overlaid on classical distributed random linear network codes. Further, we free internal nodes from having to implement potentially computationally intensive link-by-link error-correction.

We investigate the geometry of four dimensional black hole solutions in the presence of stringy higher curvature corrections to the low energy effective action. For certain supersymmetric two charge black holes these corrections drastically alter the causal structure of the solution, converting seemingly pathological null singularities into timelike singularities hidden behind a finite area horizon. We establish, analytically and numerically, that the string-corrected two-charge black hole metric has the same Penrose diagram as the extremal four-charge black hole. The higher derivative terms lead to another dramatic effect--the gravitational force exerted by a black hole on an inertial observer is no longer purely attractive. The magnitude of this effect is related to the size of the compactification manifold.

In picture archiving and communications systems (PACS), images need to be displayed in standardized ways for radiologists' interpretations. However, for most radiographs acquired by computed radiography (CR), digital radiography (DR), or digitized films, the image orientation is undetermined because of the variation of examination conditions and patient situations. To address this problem, an automatic orientation correction method is presented. It first detects the most indicative region for orientation in a radiograph, and then extracts a set of low-level visual features sensitive to rotation from the region. Based on these features, a trained classifier based on a support vector machine is employed to recognize the correct orientation of the radiograph and reorient it to a desired position. A large-scale experiment has been conducted on more than 12,000 radiographs covering a large variety of body parts and projections to validate the method. The overall performance is quite promising, with the success rate of orientation correction reaching 95.2%.

Gravitational waveforms and production could be considerably affected by gravitomagnetic corrections considered in relativistic theory of orbits. Beside the standard periastron effect of General Relativity, new nutation effects come out when c^{-3} corrections are taken into account. Such corrections emerge as soon as matter-current densities and vector gravitational potentials cannot be discarded into dynamics. We study the gravitational waves emitted through the capture, in the gravitational field of massive binary systems (e.g. a very massive black hole on which a stellar object is inspiralling) via the quadrupole approximation, considering precession and nutation effects. We present a numerical study to obtain the gravitational wave luminosity, the total energy output and the gravitational radiation amplitude. From a crude estimate of the expected number of events towards peculiar targets (e.g. globular clusters) and in particular, the rate of events per year for dense stellar clusters at the Galactic Cen...

Full Text Available Current research on spoken language does not provide a consistent picture as to whether prosody, the melody and rhythm of speech, conveys a specific meaning. Perception studies show that English listeners assign meaning to prosodic patterns, and, for instance, associate some accents with contrast, whereas Dutch listeners behave more controversially. In two ERP studies we tested how Dutch listeners process words carrying two types of accents, which either provided new information (new information accents or corrected information (corrective accents, both in single sentences (experiment 1 and after corrective and new information questions (experiment 2. In both experiments corrective accents elicited a sustained positivity as compared to new information accents, which started earlier in context than in single sentences. The positivity was not modulated by the nature of the preceding question, suggesting that the underlying neural mechanism likely reflects the construction of an interpretation to the accented word, either by identifying an alternative in context or by inferring it when no context is present. Our experimental results provide strong evidence for inferential processes related to prosodic contours in Dutch.

Current research on spoken language does not provide a consistent picture as to whether prosody, the melody and rhythm of speech, conveys a specific meaning. Perception studies show that English listeners assign meaning to prosodic patterns, and, for instance, associate some accents with contrast, whereas Dutch listeners behave more controversially. In two ERP studies we tested how Dutch listeners process words carrying two types of accents, which either provided new information (new information accents) or corrected information (corrective accents), both in single sentences (experiment 1) and after corrective and new information questions (experiment 2). In both experiments corrective accents elicited a sustained positivity as compared to new information accents, which started earlier in context than in single sentences. The positivity was not modulated by the nature of the preceding question, suggesting that the underlying neural mechanism likely reflects the construction of an interpretation to the accented word, either by identifying an alternative in context or by inferring it when no context is present. Our experimental results provide strong evidence for inferential processes related to prosodic contours in Dutch.

Full Text Available Learning a foreign language takes place step by step, during which mistakes are to be expected in all stages of learning. EFL learners are usually afraid of making mistakes which prevents them from being receptive and responsive. Overcoming fear of mistakes depends on the way mistakes are rectified. It is believed that autonomy and learner-centeredness suggest that in some settings learner's self-correction of mistakes might be more beneficial for language learning than teacher's correction. This assumption has been the subject of debates for some time. Some researchers believe that correction whether that of teacher's or on behalf of learners is effective in showing them how their current interlanguage differs from the target (Long &Robinson, 1998. Others suggest that correcting the students whether directly or through recasts are ambiguous and may be perceived by the learner as confirmation of meaning rather than feedback on form (Lyster, 1998a. This study is intended to investigate the effects of correction on Iranian intermediate EFL learners' writing composition in Payam Noor University. For this purpose, 90 English majoring students, studying at Isfahan Payam Noor University were invited to participate at the experiment. They all received a sample of TOFEL test and a total number of 60 participants whose scores were within the range of one standard deviation below and above the mean were divided into two equal groups; experimental and control. The experimental group went through some correction during the experiment while the control group remained intact and the ordinary processes of teaching went on. Each group received twelve sessions of two hour classes every week on advanced writing course in which some activities of Modern English (II were selected. Then after the treatment both groups received an immediate test as post-test and the experimental group took the second post-test as the delayed recall test with the same design as the

Interactive spoken dialog provides many new challenges for spoken language systems. One of the most critical is the prevalence of speech repairs. This paper presents an algorithm that detects and corrects speech repairs based on finding the repair pattern. The repair pattern is built by finding word matches and word replacements, and identifying fragments and editing terms. Rather than using a set of prebuilt templates, we build the pattern on the fly. In a fair test, our method, when combined with a statistical model to filter possible repairs, was successful at detecting and correcting 80\\% of the repairs, without using prosodic information or a parser.

A new multigrid algorithm based on the method of self-correction for the solution of elliptic problems is described. The method exploits information contained in the residual to dynamically modify the source term (right-hand side) of the elliptic problem. It is shown that the self-correcting solver is more efficient at damping the short wavelength modes of the algebraic error than its standard equivalent. When used in conjunction with a multigrid method, the resulting solver displays an improved convergence rate with no additional computational work.

This report investigates for the first time the potential inter-treatment bias source of cell number for gene expression studies. Cell-number bias can affect gene expression analysis when comparing samples with unequal total cellular RNA content or with different RNA extraction efficiencies...... an analytical approach to examine the suitability of correction methods by considering the inter-treatment bias as well as the inter-replicate variance, which allows use of the best correction method with minimum residual bias. Analyses of RNA sequencing and microarray data showed that the efficiencies...

Somatic gene therapy of vascular diseases is a promising new field in modern medicine. Recent advancements in gene transfer technology have greatly evolved our understanding of the pathophysiologic role of candidate disease genes. With this knowledge, the expression of selective gene products provides the means to test the therapeutic use of gene therapy in a multitude of medical conditions. In addition, with the completion of genome sequencing programs, gene transfer can be used also to study the biologic function of novel genes in vivo. Novel genes are delivered to targeted tissue via several different vehicles. These vectors include adenoviruses, retroviruses, plasmids, plasmid/liposomes, and oligonucleotides. However, each one of these vectors has inherent limitations. Further investigations into developing delivery systems that not only allow for efficient, targeted gene transfer, but also are stable and nonimmunogenic, will optimize the clinical application of gene therapy in vascular diseases. This review further discusses the available mode of gene delivery and examines six major areas in vascular gene therapy, namely prevention of restenosis, thrombosis, hypertension, atherosclerosis, peripheral vascular disease in congestive heart failure, and ischemia. Although we highlight some of the recent advances in the use of gene therapy in treating vascular disease discovered primarily during the past two years, many excellent studies published during that period are not included in this review due to space limitations. The following is a selective review of practical uses of gene transfer therapy in vascular diseases. This review primarily covers work performed in the last 2 years. For earlier work, the reader may refer to several excellent review articles. For instance, Belalcazer et al. (6) reviewed general aspects of somatic gene therapy and the different vehicles used for the delivery of therapeutic genes. Gene therapy in restenosis and stimulation of

Vascular trauma is a common life threatening injury leading to serious consequences if not timely and efficiently managed. We evaluated early surgical interventions aimed at revascularization and thus salvaging limb/organ in life threatening vascular injuries. Aims of our study were to evaluate the outcome of available diagnostic modalities, earliest possible surgical intervention and rate of related complications with particular reference to our existing situation. Emergency diagnostic workup based mainly on clinical evaluations and required laboratory and imaging parameters leading to revascularisation was performed in 48 patients in Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Muzaffarabad and Islamic Medical College Hospitals between June 1997 and December 2001. Data was collected on pre-designed computerized proforma's which were completed by the treating surgeon and data was entered and analyzed accordingly. Out of the total 48 patients who sustained major vascular injuries during this period, 14 (29.2%) were having injury to upper limb vessels, 26 (54.2%) patients had injury to the lower limb vessels, 6 (12.5%) patients reported with injury to abdominal vessels. One (2%) patient had injury to common carotid artery, while an other patient to thoracic aorta respectively (2%). Penetrating trauma caused 38 (79%) and blunt trauma caused 10 (21%) major vascular injuries. Out of 48 patients, 41 (85.4%) patients were successful managed by vascular reconstruction without any residual disability. Speedy diagnostic work up and early revascularization yields favourable outcome in vast majority of patients requiring vascular repair. Selections of surgical technique including use of autologous vein graft or artificial vascular graft can save many limbs. In order to achieve good results the time lapse between injury and revascularisation should be less than 6 hours.

Trauma is the third leading cause of death. In this regard, vascular injury plays a leading role in of morbidity and mortality rates. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of vascular injuries and results of vascular reconstruction at a referral hospital in northern Iran. A retrospective observational study assessed 88 consecutive patients with vascular injury admitted to Poursina Hospital, Rasht in northern Iran, from October 2007 to October 2009. All study information was collected retrospectively from hospital charts. Most of the affected patients (87/88) were male with a mean age of 29.12 ± 11.20 years. The mechanism of injury in 39.8% was blunt trauma and penetrating trauma in the rest. Of the 53 injured by penetrating trauma (60.2%), the most common cause was stabbing (94.3%). The most common cause of blunt trauma was road traffic accidents (93.1%). The most common mechanism for vascular injuries in upper extremities was penetrating trauma (86.0%) and in lower extremities was blunt trauma (60.0%). Fasciotomy was performed in 16 patients (18.2%) mostly in the lower extremities. Major amputation was required in 10% of the patients. In upper extremities, the most common type of revascularization was end to end anastomosis, followed by inter-position graft. The most common type of reconstruction in the lower extremity was bypass graft. All patients who underwent major amputation were admitted to the center with a delay of more than 6 hours after injury. Major vascular injuries in our center occurred in young men, frequently because of stab wounds. Popliteal injuries mostly caused by motor vehicle accidents was the second most common arterial injury, followed by combined ulnar and radial injuries. Vascular reconstruction in the first hours after trauma may prevent many unnecessary and preventable amputation procedures.

Seventy-one series of stereoscopic DSA utilized on thirty-nine patients with intracranial vascular lesions were evaluated by comparison with subtracted magnified angiograms or independently. All stereoscopic series had good or fairly good stereoscopic quality. Stereoscopic DSA was useful in the preoperative stereoscopic vascular analysis of vascular lesions such as aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, cartotid-cavernous fistulas, obstructive or stenotic vascular lesions and vascular elonga...

A complex role has been described for dendritic cells (DCs) in the potentiation and control of vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis. Resident vascular DCs are found in the intima of atherosclerosis-prone vascular regions exposed to disturbed blood flow patterns. Several phenotypically and functionally distinct vascular DC subsets have been described. The functional heterogeneity of these cells and their contributions to vascular homeostasis, inflammation, and atherosclerosis are only rec...

Background: Nicotine Dependence is an important public health issue. Nicotine Dependence is a risk factor for vascular diseases like Myocardial Infarction and Vascular dementia. The rate of nicotine dependence in Indian subjects with Vascular Dementia is not known. Hence we decided to assess Nicotine Dependence in subjects with Vascular Dementia Methods: Nicotine Dependence in subjects with Vascular Dementia was assessed among subjects presenting to Memory Clinic of a tertiary car...

Fifth arch anomalies are rare and complex and frequently misdiagnosed or mistaken for other entities. We report a double arch vascular ring that is thought to consist of right fourth arch and left fifth arch components, a previously undescribed persistent fifth arch variant. The currently recognized spectrum and classification of fifth arch vascular anomalies are expanded along with illustrative images to justify the proposed changes. Reviewing and expanding the classification of fifth arch anomalies to include a double arch ring variant will promote recognition, correct diagnosis and appropriate management of these anomalies. (orig.)

Full Text Available Rotational and flexion deformity of C1-C2 due to ankylosing spondylitis is rare. We did surgical correction in one such case by lateral release, resection of the posterior arch of C1 and mobilization of the vertebral arteries, wedge osteotomy of the lateral masses of C1 and internal fixation under general anesthesia. There were no vascular and neurological complications during the surgery. After operation the atlantoaxial rotational deformity was corrected and the normal cervical lordosis was restored. At 1 year followup his visual field and feeding became normal and internal fixation was stable.

Due to malfunctioning and mis-calibration of cells in digital x-ray detectors as well as impurities on the scintillator screens, stripe artifacts arise in the sinogram which in turn generate ring artifacts in the reconstructed x-ray computed tomography images. In this paper, a novel technique is proposed for the detection and removal of stripe artifacts in a sinogram with a view to suppress the ring artifacts from the tomographic images. To accurately detect the stripe creating pixels using a derivative-based algorithm, at first the sinogram is windowed to create a sub-sinogram by keeping the pixel of examination at the center position in the sub-sinogram. The other pixels in the sub-sinogram are selected from a polyphase component of the sinogram. A new mathematical index is proposed here to isolate the strong and weak ring-generating stripes from the good ones. For the correction of strong ring artifacts resulting from the defective detector elements and dusty scintillator crystals, 2D variable window moving average and weighted moving average filters are proposed in this work. On the other hand, a conventionally trusted constant bias correction scheme is adopted to correct the responses of the mis-calibrated detector elements. To evaluate and compare the performance of the proposed algorithm, real micro-CT images acquired from two flat panel detectors under different operating conditions are used. Experimental results show that the proposed method can remove ring artifacts more effectively without imparting noticeable distortion in the image as compared to a recently reported technique in the literature.

Vascular graft is a widely-used medical device for the treatment of vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and aneurysm as well as for the use of vascular access and pediatric shunt, which are major causes of mortality and morbidity in this world. Dysfunction of vascular grafts often occurs, particularly for grafts with diameter less than 6mm, and is associated with the design of graft materials. Mechanical strength, compliance, permeability, endothelialization and availability are issues of most concern for vascular graft materials. To address these issues, we have designed a biodegradable, compliant graft made of hybrid multilayer by combining an intimal equivalent, electrospun heparin-impregnated poly-epsilon-caprolactone nanofibers, with a medial equivalent, a crosslinked collagen-chitosan-based gel scaffold. The intimal equivalent is designed to build mechanical strength and stability suitable for in vivo grafting and to prevent thrombosis. The medial equivalent is designed to serve as a scaffold for the activity of the smooth muscle cells important for vascular healing and regeneration. Our results have shown that genipin is a biocompatible crosslinker to enhance the mechanical properties of collagen-chitosan based scaffolds, and the degradation time and the activity of smooth muscle cells in the scaffold can be modulated by the crosslinking degree. For vascular grafting and regeneration in vivo, an important design parameter of the hybrid multilayer is the interface adhesion between the intimal and medial equivalents. With diametrically opposite affinities to water, delamination of the two layers occurs. Physical or chemical modification techniques were thus used to enhance the adhesion. Microscopic examination and graft-relevant functional characterizations have been performed to evaluate these techniques. Results from characterization of microstructure and functional properties, including burst strength, compliance, water permeability and suture

The development of tissue-engineered small-diameter vascular grafts is an urgent issue in cardiovascular surgery. In this study, we assessed how the incorporation of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) affects morphological and mechanical properties of polycaprolactone (PCL) vascular grafts along with its release kinetics. Vascular grafts were prepared using two-phase electrospinning. In pursuing our aims, we performed scanning electron microscopy, mechanical testing, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our results demonstrated the preservation of a highly porous structure and improvement of PCL/VEGF scaffold mechanical properties as compared to PCL grafts. A prolonged VEGF release testifies the use of this construct as a scaffold for tissue-engineered vascular grafts.

This guide, prepared to assist students who have postural and other remedial defects, is divided into four sections. Section one outlines the organization and administration of a remedial physical education program and gives information concerning the administration of alignment tests and corrections. Section two discusses anteroposterior…

The famous data on fatigue failure times of ball bearings have been quoted incorrectly from Lieblein and Zelen's original paper. The correct data include censored values, as well as non-fatigue failures that must be handled appropriately. They could be described by a mixture of Weibull distributions, corresponding to different modes of failure.

"Free speech" and "political correctness" are best seen not as opposing principles, but as part of a spectrum. Rather than attempting to establish some absolute principles, this essay identifies four trends that impact on this debate: (1) there are, and always have been, legitimate debates about the--absolute--beneficence of…

We present TISC, a multilingual, language-independent and context-sensitive spelling checking and correction system designed to facilitate the automatic removal of non-word spelling errors in large corpora. Its lexicon is derived from raw text corpora, without supervision, and contains word unigrams

An introduction to the problems and therapeutic needs of school age children whose speech requires remedial attention, the text is intended for both the classroom teacher and the speech correctionist. General considerations include classification and incidence of speech defects, speech correction services, the teacher as a speaker, the mechanism…

WRITTEN PRIMARILY FOR SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS, PRINCIPALS, SPEECH CLINICIANS, AND SUPERVISORS, THIS GUIDE OUTLINES THE MECHANICS OF ORGANIZING AND CONDUCTING SPEECH CORRECTION ACTIVITIES IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. IT INCLUDES THE REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFICATION OF A SPEECH CLINICIAN IN MISSOURI AND DESCRIBES ESSENTIAL STEPS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A…

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this paper the important .issues involved in successfully implementing corrective action systems in quality management are discussed. The work is based on experience in implementing and operating such a system in an automotive manufacturing enterprise in South Africa. The core of a corrective action system is good documentation, supported by a computerised information system. Secondly, a systematic problem solving methodology is essential to resolve the quality related problems identified by the system. In the following paragraphs the general corrective action process is discussed and the elements of a corrective action system are identified, followed by a more detailed discussion of each element. Finally specific results from the application are discussed.

The objective of this study was to determine if acute inhibition of 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) synthesis or reduced inactivation of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) can correct L-N(G)-nitro-arginine-methyl-ester (L-NAME)-induced abnormal vascular reactivity in the perfused mesenteric bed and the carotid artery of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Administration of L-NAME in drinking water (80 mg/l) to SHR for 3 weeks resulted in abnormal vascular reactivity to norepinephrine and carbachol in the perfused mesenteric vascular bed and carotid artery, and significantly elevated mean arterial blood pressure (244 +/- 9 mm Hg) as compared to SHR controls drinking regular water (176 +/- 3 mm Hg). In the perfused mesenteric vascular bed, the impaired vascular responsiveness to norepinephrine was corrected by acute treatment with N-hydroxy-N'-(4-butyl-2-methylphenyl)formamidine (HET0016), an inhibitor of 20-HETE formation, but not by 1-cyclohexyl-3-dodecyl urea (CDU), an inhibitor of soluble epoxide hydrolase. Treatment with either HET0016 or CDU did not improve impaired carbachol-induced vasodilation in the perfused mesenteric vascular bed. In the isolated carotid artery, treatment with HET0016 corrected the L-NAME-induced increase in norepinephrine-induced vasoconstriction, whereas only CDU treatment could improve impaired carbachol-induced vasodilation. Results of this study indicate that vascular function in a state of compromised nitric oxide formation is differentially modulated by 20-HETE and EETs, and that treatment with HET0016 or CDU may improve vascular function in a state of high blood pressure and endothelial dysfunction.

The plant vascular system, composed of xylem and phloem, evolved to connect plant organs and transport various molecules between them. During the post-embryonic growth, these conductive tissues constitutively form from cells that are derived from a lateral meristem, commonly called procambium and cambium. Procambium/cambium contains pluripotent stem cells and provides a microenvironment that maintains the stem cell population. Because vascular plants continue to form new tissues and organs throughout their life cycle, the formation and maintenance of stem cells are crucial for plant growth and development. In this decade, there has been considerable progress in understanding the molecular control of the organization and maintenance of stem cells in vascular plants. Noticeable advance has been made in elucidating the role of transcription factors and major plant hormones in stem cell maintenance and vascular tissue differentiation. These studies suggest the shared regulatory mechanisms among various types of plant stem cell pools. In this review, we focus on two aspects of stem cell function in the vascular cambium, cell proliferation and cell differentiation.

It is established that regular aerobic training improves vascular function, for example, endothelium-dependent vasodilatation and arterial stiffness or compliance and thereby constitutes a preventative measure against cardiovascular disease. In contrast, high-intensity resistance training impairs vascular function, while the influence of moderate-intensity resistance training on vascular function is still controversial. However, aerobic training is insufficient to inhibit loss in muscular strength with advancing age; thus, resistance training is recommended to prevent sarcopenia. Recently, several lines of study have provided compelling data showing that exercise and training with blood flow restriction (BFR) leads to muscle hypertrophy and strength increase. As such, BFR training might be a novel means of overcoming the contradiction between aerobic and high-intensity resistance training. Although it is not enough evidence to obtain consensus about impact of BFR training on vascular function, available evidences suggested that BFR training did not change coagulation factors and arterial compliance though with inconsistence results in endothelial function. This paper is a review of the literature on the impact of BFR exercise and training on vascular function, such as endothelial function, arterial compliance, or other potential factors in comparison with those of aerobic and resistance training.

Summary Treatment of high-grade gliomas with selective intra-arterial (IA) administration of chemotherapies has been proposed, and utilized as a therapeutic modality. This approach offers the conceptual benefit of providing maximal delivery of the agent to the tumor bed, while potentially reducing systemic exposure to the agent. This retrospective study was designed to determine the vascular distribution of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) at the time of diagnosis in an effort to determine what proportion of patients would likely be candidates for this approach. The preoperative MRI scans of 50 patients with GBM were analyzed and compared to published normative data of intracranial vascular distribution. Vascular distribution was determined by analyzing post-gadolinium axial and coronal T1 images, axial T2 images, and axial T2 images with an additional 1 cm margin (T2 + 1 cm) added in all dimensions. T1 analysis demonstrated 60% of tumors in a single vascular distribution. T2 analysis of these tumors reduced that number to 34%. When the T2 + 1 cm margin was utilized, only 6% of tumors were in a single vascular distribution. 66% of tumors were limited to the anterior circulation on T1 imaging but only 34% on T2 + 1 cm imaging. 30% of tumors were also within the distribution of the anterior choroidal artery. These findings suggest that the use of selective IA administration of agents is necessarily limited to a fraction of presenting patients or will require administration via multiple cerebral arteries. PMID:23472735

With the arrival of the era of global population aging, we strive for healthy aging and a healthy senior life rather than simple prolongation of the physical age. For the past 50 years, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have been the most common cause of death among the elderly people globally. In China, there has been an exponential increase in the incidence of heart disease and stroke in the elderly population. Atherosclerosis is the pathological change in the coronary artery disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. Despite the significant benefit demonstrated, control of classic risk factors alone, such as lifestyle change or drug therapy, was shown to have limitations in reducing the incidence of cardiovascular events. Vascular aging has been shown to be an important independent predictor of CVD events. Interventions targeting vascular aging have emerged as a new paradigm in conjunction with control of risk factors for the prevention of CVD. Vascular aging and atherosclerosis are two distinct pathological changes and difficult to distinguish clinically. Recent research with Chinese medicine (CM) has shown encouraging observations, linking the clinical benefit of delaying vascular aging and treating atherosclerosis. These results demonstrate great potential of CM in the prevention and treatment of CVD.

The incidence of renal failure due to vascular diseases is increasing. Two reasons for this are the epidemic of atherosclerotic vascular disease in the aging population and the widespread use of vasoactive drugs that can adversely affect renal function. These vascular causes of renal failure include vasomotor disorders such as that associated with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, small-vessel diseases such as cholesterol crystal embolization, and large-vessel diseases such as renal artery stenosis. These causes of azotemia are less familiar to physicians than more classic causes, such as acute tubular necrosis, and are less likely to be recognized in their early stages. This article describes the various vascular diseases that impair renal function and outlines the steps necessary to identify them. Although some of these conditions, such as renal artery stenosis, can gradually impair function, the vascular causes of acute renal failure are emphasized in this article. Because the vasculitides primarily cause renal failure through secondary glomerulonephritis, they are mentioned only briefly. Extensive testing is rarely necessary because the cause is usually suspected through syndrome recognition. The diagnosis can then be confirmed by the results of one or two additional tests or by improved renal function after treatment.

The extremities remain the most common sites of wounding in conflict, are associated with a significant incidence of vascular trauma, and have a high complication rate (infection, secondary amputation, and graft thrombosis). The purpose of this study was to study the complication rate after extremity vascular injury. In particular, the aim was to analyze whether this was influenced by the presence or absence of a bony injury. A prospectively maintained trauma registry was retrospectively reviewed for all UK military casualties with extremity injuries (Abbreviated Injury Score >1) December 8, 2003 to May 12, 2008. Demographics and the details of their vascular injuries, management, and outcome were documented using the trauma audit and medical notes. Thirty-four patients (34%)--37 limbs (30%)--had sustained a total of 38 vascular injuries. Twenty-eight limbs (22.6%) had an associated fracture, 9 (7.3%) did not. Twenty-nine limbs (23.4%) required immediate revascularization to preserve their limb: 16 limbs (13%) underwent an initial Damage Control procedure, and 13 limbs (10.5%) underwent Definitive Surgery. Overall, there were 25 limbs (20.2%) with complications. Twenty-two were in the 28 limbs with open fractures, 3 were in the 9 limbs without a fracture (p vascular trauma if there is an associated fracture, probably due to higher energy transfer and greater tissue damage.

Full Text Available Jingli Wang,1 Michael E Widlansky1,21Department of Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine Division, 2Department of Pharmacology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USAAbstract: Far from being inert, the vascular endothelium is a critical regulator of vascular function. While the endothelium participates in autocrine, paracrine, and endocrine signaling, it also transduces mechanical signals from the cell surface involving key cell structural elements. In this review, we discuss the structure of the vascular endothelium and its relationship to traditional cardiovascular risk factors and clinical cardiovascular events. Further, we review the emerging evidence that cell structural elements, including the glycocalyx, intercellular junctions, and cytoskeleton elements, help the endothelium to communicate with its environment to regulate vascular function, including vessel permeability and signal transduction via nitric oxide bioavailability. Further work is necessary to better delineate the regulatory relationships between known key regulators of vascular function and endothelial cell structural elements.Keywords: endothelium, shear stress, eNOS, cardiovascular risk factors, glycocalyx

Full Text Available The endothelial barrier strictly maintains vascular and tissue homeostasis, and therefore modulates many physiological processes such as angiogenesis, immune responses, and dynamic exchanges throughout organs. Consequently, alteration of this finely tuned function may have devastating consequences for the organism. This is particularly obvious in cancers, where a disorganized and leaky blood vessel network irrigates solid tumors. In this context, vascular permeability drives tumor-induced angiogenesis, blood flow disturbances, inflammatory cell infiltration, and tumor cell extravasation. This can directly restrain the efficacy of conventional therapies by limiting intravenous drug delivery. Indeed, for more effective anti-angiogenic therapies, it is now accepted that not only should excessive angiogenesis be alleviated, but also that the tumor vasculature needs to be normalized. Recovery of normal state vasculature requires diminishing hyperpermeability, increasing pericyte coverage, and restoring the basement membrane, to subsequently reduce hypoxia and interstitial fluid pressure. In this review, we will introduce how vascular permeability accompanies tumor progression and, as a collateral damage, impacts on efficient drug delivery. The molecular mechanisms involved in tumor-driven vascular permeability will next be detailed, with a particular focus on the main factors produced by tumor cells, especially the emblematic vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF. Finally, new perspectives in cancer therapy will be presented, centered on the use of anti-permeability factors and normalization agents.

Full Text Available It is established that regular aerobic training improves vascular function, for example, endothelium-dependent vasodilatation and arterial stiffness or compliance and thereby constitutes a preventative measure against cardiovascular disease. In contrast, high-intensity resistance training impairs vascular function, while the influence of moderate-intensity resistance training on vascular function is still controversial. However, aerobic training is insufficient to inhibit loss in muscular strength with advancing age; thus, resistance training is recommended to prevent sarcopenia. Recently, several lines of study have provided compelling data showing that exercise and training with blood flow restriction (BFR leads to muscle hypertrophy and strength increase. As such, BFR training might be a novel means of overcoming the contradiction between aerobic and high-intensity resistance training. Although it is not enough evidence to obtain consensus about impact of BFR training on vascular function, available evidences suggested that BFR training did not change coagulation factors and arterial compliance though with inconsistence results in endothelial function. This paper is a review of the literature on the impact of BFR exercise and training on vascular function, such as endothelial function, arterial compliance, or other potential factors in comparison with those of aerobic and resistance training.

A new experimental model for vascularized corticocancellous bone grafts was established by investigation of vascular anatomy of the tail in 15 adult Fischer 344 rats and determination of the viability of vascularized tail bone grafts into the abdominal wall in 22 7-week-old rats. The tail bones of 40 rats were then raised on the pedicle of the caudal artery and its venae comitantes, transferred to a resected portion in the femur, and observed for 16 weeks. The vascularized graft showed marked reactive periosteal bone formation during the first and second weeks following transfer, and thereafter, the graft continued to show active bone formation. In transverse section, the sharp processes became rounded. In the cancellous bone, both bone resorption and bone formation were noticeably activated early after transfer, although resorption predominated and the amount of the cancellous bone consequently diminished. The nonvascularized grafts showed "creeping substitution." The results suggest that morphologic adaptation occurs if living (i.e., vascularized) tail bones are transferred to long-bone femurs.

Elevated plasma levels of homocysteine are a metabolic risk factor for atherosclerotic vascular disease, as shown in numerous clinical studies that linked elevated homocysteine levels to de novo and recurrent cardiovascular events. High levels of homocysteine promote oxidant stress in vascular cells and tissue because of the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which have been strongly implicated in the development of atherosclerosis. In particular, ROS have been shown to cause endothelial injury, dysfunction, and activation. Elevated homocysteine stimulates proinflammatory pathways in vascular cells, resulting in leukocyte recruitment to the vessel wall, mediated by the expression of adhesion molecules on endothelial cells and circulating monocytes and neutrophils, in the infiltration of leukocytes into the arterial wall mediated by increased secretion of chemokines, and in the differentiation of monocytes into cholesterol-scavenging macrophages. Furthermore, it stimulates the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells followed by the production of extracellular matrix. Many of these events involve redox-sensitive signaling events, which are promoted by elevated homocysteine, and result in the formation of atherosclerotic lesions. In this article, we review current knowledge about the role of homocysteine on oxidant stress-mediated vascular inflammation during the development of atherosclerosis.

The measurement of the cosmological parameters from Type Ia supernovae hinges on our ability to compare nearby and distant supernovae accurately. Here we present an advance on a method for performing generalized K-corrections for Type Ia supernovae which allows us to compare these objects from the UV to near-IR over the redshift range 0 < z < 2. We discuss the errors currently associated with this method and how future data can improve upon it significantly. We also examine the effects of reddening on the K-corrections and the light curves of Type Ia supernovae. Finally, we provide a few examples of how these techniques affect our current understanding of a sample of both nearby and distant supernovae.

Full Text Available In this paper, a method of vascular structure identification in intraoperative 3D Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS data is presented. Ultrasound imaging is commonly used in brain tumor surgery to investigate in real time the current status of cerebral structures. The use of an ultrasound contrast agent enables to highlight tumor tissue, but also surrounding blood vessels. However, these structures can be used as landmarks to estimate and correct the brain shift. This work proposes an alternative method for extracting small vascular segments close to the tumor as landmark. The patient image dataset involved in brain tumor operations includes preoperative contrast T1MR (cT1MR data and 3D intraoperative contrast enhanced ultrasound data acquired before (3D-iCEUS s t a r t and after (3D-iCEUS e n d tumor resection. Based on rigid registration techniques, a preselected vascular segment in cT1MR is searched in 3D-iCEUS s t a r t and 3D-iCEUS e n d data. The method was validated by using three similarity measures (Normalized Gradient Field, Normalized Mutual Information and Normalized Cross Correlation. Tests were performed on data obtained from ten patients overcoming a brain tumor operation and it succeeded in nine cases. Despite the small size of the vascular structures, the artifacts in the ultrasound images and the brain tissue deformations, blood vessels were successfully identified.

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the frequency and factors associated with vascular complications after pediatric liver transplantation. METHOD: risk factors were evaluated in 99 patients under 18 years of age with chronic liver disease who underwent deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT between March of 1995 and November of 2009 at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil. The variables analyzed included donor and recipient age, gender, and weight; indication for transplant; PELD/MELD scores; technical aspects; postoperative vascular complications; and survival. RESULTS: vascular complications occurred in 19 patients (19%. Arterial events were most common, occurred earlier in the postoperative period, and were associated with high graft loss and mortality rates. In the multivariate analysis, the following factors were identified: portal vein diameter < 3 mm, donor-to-recipient body weight ratio (DRWR, prolonged ischemic time, and use of arterial grafts. CONCLUSION: the choice of treatment depends on the timing of diagnosis; however, in this study, surgical revision or correction produced worse outcomes than percutaneous angioplasty. The reduction of risk factors and early detection of vascular complications are key elements to a successful transplantation.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with vascular calcifications and atherosclerosis. There is a need for novel predictors to allow earlier diagnosis of these disorders, predict disease progression, and improve assessment of treatment response. We focused on microRNAs since they are implicated in a variety of cellular functions in cardiovascular pathology. We examined changes of microRNA expression in aortas of CKD and non-CKD wild type mice and apolipoprotein E knock-out mice, respectively. Both vascular smooth muscle-specific miR-143 and miR-145 expressions were decreased in states of atherosclerosis and/or CKD or both, and the expression level of protein target Myocardin was increased. The inflammatory miR-223 was increased in more advanced stages of CKD, and specific protein targets NFI-A and GLUT-4 were dramatically decreased. Expression of miR-126 was markedly increased and expression of protein targets VCAM-1 and SDF-1 was altered during the course of CKD. The drug sevelamer, commonly used in CKD, corrected partially these changes in microRNA expression, suggesting a direct link between the observed microRNA alterations and uremic vascular toxicity. Finally, miR-126, -143 and -223 expression levels were deregulated in murine serum during the course of experimental CKD. In conclusion, these miRNAs could have role(s) in CKD vascular remodeling and may therefore represent useful targets to prevent or treat complications of CKD.

1. The vascular pattern in the flower at various stages of maturity of Aptenia cordifolia and Dorotheanthus bellidiformis is examined. 2. The vascular pattern of Dorotheanthus has been compared with that of Aptenia: typologically, Dorotheanthus is derived from Aptenia. 3. The vascular pattern of

Full Text Available Any new clinical data, whether positive or negative, generated about a medical device should be published because health professionals should know which devices do not work, as well as those which do. We report three spinal cord injury patients in whom urological implants failed to work. In the first, paraplegic, patient, a sacral anterior root stimulator failed to produce erection, and a drug delivery system for intracavernosal administration of vasoactive drugs was therefore implanted; however, this implant never functioned (and, furthermore, such penile drug delivery systems to produce erection had effectively become obsolete following the advent of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors. Subsequently, the sacral anterior root stimulator developed a malfunction and the patient therefore learned to perform self-catheterisation. In the second patient, also paraplegic, an artificial urinary sphincter was implanted but the patient developed a postoperative sacral pressure sore. Eight months later, a suprapubic cystostomy was performed as urethral catheterisation was very difficult. The pressure sore had not healed completely even after five years. In the third case, a sacral anterior root stimulator was implanted in a tetraplegic patient in whom, after five years, a penile sheath could not be fitted because of penile retraction. This patient was therefore established on urethral catheter drainage. Later, infection with Staphylococcus aureus around the receiver block necessitated its removal. In conclusion, spinal cord injury patients are at risk of developing pressure sores, wound infections, malfunction of implants, and the inability to use implants because of age-related changes, as well as running the risk of their implants becoming obsolete due to advances in medicine. Some surgical procedures such as dorsal rhizotomy are irreversible. Alternative treatments such as intermittent catheterisations may be less damaging than bladder stimulator in

The causes for the malfunctions of the drive sealing of screw conveyors of shield machines, such as irrational screw conveyor design, inclining of screw rod, damage of contacting surface of the screw conveyor case, leaping forward of the screw rod and inadequate grease injection, are analyzed, and countermeasures, including screw conveyor structure optimization, ground conditioning, rationally selecting the screw conveyor speed, avoiding boring with empty chamber and controlling the manufacturing process, are proposed, with the practice in Chongqing as an example. The paper can provide reference for the coping with the malfunctions of the drive sealing of screw conveyors of shield machines in similar projects in the future.%为解决盾构螺旋机驱动密封故障问题,以重庆地区盾构施工情况为依托,结合多台盾构螺旋输送机驱动密封的修复经验,重点分析螺旋输送机驱动密封产生故障的原因：螺旋机设计不合理、螺旋机螺杆倾斜、筒体连接面磨损、螺杆向前蹿动、油脂注入量不足。总结出新的故障处理（螺旋机结构优化、渣土改良、合理选择螺旋机转速、防止空仓掘进、严控加工工艺等）与预防措施（螺旋机叶片修复、改善油脂注入量、更换损坏部件）。为今后盾构施工中处理螺旋输送机驱动密封故障处理与防护技术提供依据。

Any new clinical data, whether positive or negative, generated about a medical device should be published because health professionals should know which devices do not work, as well as those which do. We report three spinal cord injury patients in whom urological implants failed to work. In the first, paraplegic, patient, a sacral anterior root stimulator failed to produce erection, and a drug delivery system for intracavernosal administration of vasoactive drugs was therefore implanted; however, this implant never functioned (and, furthermore, such penile drug delivery systems to produce erection had effectively become obsolete following the advent of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors). Subsequently, the sacral anterior root stimulator developed a malfunction and the patient therefore learned to perform self-catheterisation. In the second patient, also paraplegic, an artificial urinary sphincter was implanted but the patient developed a postoperative sacral pressure sore. Eight months later, a suprapubic cystostomy was performed as urethral catheterisation was very difficult. The pressure sore had not healed completely even after five years. In the third case, a sacral anterior root stimulator was implanted in a tetraplegic patient in whom, after five years, a penile sheath could not be fitted because of penile retraction. This patient was therefore established on urethral catheter drainage. Later, infection with Staphylococcus aureus around the receiver block necessitated its removal. In conclusion, spinal cord injury patients are at risk of developing pressure sores, wound infections, malfunction of implants, and the inability to use implants because of age-related changes, as well as running the risk of their implants becoming obsolete due to advances in medicine. Some surgical procedures such as dorsal rhizotomy are irreversible. Alternative treatments such as intermittent catheterisations may be less damaging than bladder stimulator in the long term. PMID

为解决船舶柴油机系统的故障诊断与定位问题，依据热经济结构理论，建立基于船舶柴油机系统物理结构和生产结构的故障诊断模型，并以“育鲲”轮柴油机能量系统为例，结合实船运行参数计算分析。仿真结果表明，该模型可以有效地对船舶柴油机系统单一故障和多故障进行诊断与定位。在此基础上，设计了一种船舶柴油机故障检测系统，该系统具有一定的实船应用价值。%To solve the problem of malfunction diagnosis and positioning of marine diesel engine system , a malfunction di-agnosis model based on physical structure and productive structure of diesel engine was established according to the structural theory of thermo-economics .Taking the diesel ener-gy system of “Yukun” as an example , the analysis was car-ried out according to the operating parameters of the real ship . Simulation results show that the model can effectively solve the diagnosis and localization of single fault and multiple faults of marine diesel engine system .On this basis, a marine diesel engine fault detection system is designed , which has a certain application value .

The automatic control system of distributed grid connected photovoltaic (PV)power sta-tion plays a critical role in the safe production.In this paper,the author analyzed the communication mal-function of the process level equipment,and based on the operation mechanism and features of the electri-cal equipment in PV power station as well as the on site troubleshooting experiences,concluded that the reason of such malfunction was the optical fiber netstorm,grounding grid failure,and inverter common mode interference.In addition,some corresponding solutions were proposed,providing references for pro-cessing the failure in the domestic large scale distributed grid connected PV power station,which will promote the healthy development of the PV industry.%分布式并网光伏电站自动化监控系统在电站的安全生产中占有关键地位，针对过程层设备通讯故障的研究分析，根据光伏电站电气设备的运行机理及特性，并结合一定的现场故障处理经验，将过程层通信故障原因归纳为光纤环网风暴、接地网故障和逆变器共模干扰，并提出工程中相应的处理方法，为国内大型分布式并网光伏电站故障处理提供一定的参考依据，推动光伏产业的健康发展。

ensemble. Ensembles may synchronize. Smooth muscle cells in the ensemble depolarize periodically, generating electrical signals that propagate along the vascular network. We developed a mathematical model of a nephron-vascular network, with 16 versions of a single nephron model containing representations...... of both mechanisms in the regulatory ensemble, to examine the effects of network structure on nephron synchronization. Symmetry, as a property of a network, facilitates synchronization. Nephrons received blood from a symmetric electrically conductive vascular tree. Symmetry was created by using identical...... nephron models at each of the 16 sites, and symmetry breaking by varying nephron length. The symmetric model achieved synchronization of all elements in the network. As little as 1% variation in nephron length caused extensive desynchronization, although synchronization was maintained in small nephron...

Cancer therapy requires anticancer agents capable of efficient and uniform systemic delivery. One promising route to their development is nanotechnology. Here, a previous model for cancer chemotherapy based on a nanosized drug carrier (Paiva et al., 2011) is extended by including tissue vasculature and a three-dimensional growth. We study through computer simulations the therapy against tumors demanding either large or small nutrient supplies growing under different levels of tissue vascularization. Our results indicate that highly vascularized tumors demand more aggressive therapies (larger injected doses administrated at short intervals) than poorly vascularized ones. Furthermore, nanoparticle endocytic rate by tumor cells, not its selectivity, is the major factor that determines the therapeutic success. Finally, our finds indicate that therapies combining cytotoxic agents with antiangiogenic drugs that reduce the abnormal tumor vasculature, instead of angiogenic drugs that normalize it, can lead to successful treatments using feasible endocytic rates and administration intervals.

Mineralization of bone and tooth extracellular matrix (ECM) is a physiologic process, while soft tissue mineralization, also known as ectopic mineralization (calcification), is a pathologic condition. Vascular calcification is common in aging and also in a number of genetic and metabolic disorders. The calcific deposits in arteries complicate the prognosis and increase the morbidity in diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD). To completely understand the pathophysiology of these lifethreatening diseases, it is critical to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying vascular calcification. Unveiling these mechanisms will eventually identify new therapeutic targets and also improve the management of the associated complications. In the current review, we discussed the common determinants of ECM mineralization, the mechanism of vascular calcification associated with several human diseases and outlined the most common therapeutic approaches to prevent its progression.

With the technical advances and the increasing availability of sophisticated imaging equipment, techniques, and protocols, and with continually evolving transcatheter endovascular therapies, minimally invasive imaging and treatment options are being routinely used for the clinical management of trauma patients. Thus, the primary treatment algorithm for managing acute vascular trauma now increasingly involves the interventional radiologist or other endovascular specialist. Endovascular techniques represent an attractive option for both stabilizing and definitively treating patients who have sustained significant trauma, with resultant vascular injury. Endovascular treatment frequently offers the benefit of a focused definitive therapy, even in the presence of massive hemorrhage that allows for preservation of major vessels or injured solid organs and serves as an alternative to an open surgical intervention. This article presents an overview of various endovascular techniques that can be used for trauma patients presenting with vascular injuries.

Vascular anastomosis is commonly done by hand-sewn methods which not only are slow in pace, but also need experiences in surgeons' hands. As the old techniques are replaced by the new ones all the time, it is sensed that a new sutureless approach should be welcomed in the field of vascular anastomosis. Although lots of efforts have been done, such previous recommended techniques are associated with adverse consequences and here is where the need for new methods is still sensed. In this manuscript, we bring all the benefits from other methods together and conclude a novel one for end-to-end vascular anastomosis which uses biological glue as connecting material and also an absorbable stent to keep vessel patency while using balloon catheter and tacking suture.

Psoriasis is an immune disease most commonly recognized for its skin and joint manifestations. These produce significant physical, social, and psychological distress in affected patients and resultant reductions in their quality of life. As expected, these concerns are vital in providing symptomatic improvement and in selecting an individualized therapy. Yet, the approach in management of these patients is likely to change given the growing body of evidence linking psoriasis and vascular disease. Stemming from an anecdotally described relationship, the association between psoriasis and vascular disease has become a focus of current research to further elucidate the pathophysiology underlying and connecting these two diseases. This article includes a review of the classical cardiovascular risk factors, the atherothrombotic markers, and the environmental stressors associated with psoriasis, as well as a critical review of the observed vascular diseases, the proposed mechanism of atherosclerosis, and the benefits of treatment of psoriasis.

Full Text Available Jessica M Osmond, Nancy L KanagyVascular Physiology Group, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USAAbstract: Hydrogen sulfide (H2S has emerged as a key regulator of cardiovascular function. This gasotransmitter is produced in the vasculature and is involved in numerous processes that promote vascular homeostasis, including vasodilation and endothelial cell proliferation. Although H2S plays a role under physiological conditions, it has become clear in recent years that hypoxia modulates the production and action of H2S. Furthermore, there is growing evidence that H2S is cytoprotective in the face of hypoxic insults. This review focuses on the synthesis and signaling of H2S in hypoxic conditions in the vasculature, and highlights recent studies providing evidence that H2S is a potential therapy for preventing tissue damage in hypoxic conditions.Keywords: H2S, cystathionine γ-lyase, vascular smooth muscle, endothelium

The long-term survival and quality of life of patients on hemodialysis (HD) is dependant on the adequacy of dialysis via an appropriately placed vascular access. The optimal vascular access is unquestionably the autologous arteriovenous fistula (AVF), with the most common method being the conventional radio-cephalic fistula at the wrist. Recent clinical practice guidelines recommend the creation of native fistula or synthetic graft before the start of chronic HD therapy to prevent the need for complication-prone dialysis catheters. This could also have a beneficial effect on the rapidity of worsening kidney failure. A multidisciplinary approach (nephrologists, surgeons, radiologists and nurses) should improve the HD outcome by promoting the use of AVF. An important additional component of this program is the Doppler ultrasound for preoperative vascular mapping. Such an approach may be realized without unsuccessful surgical explorations, with a minimal early failure rate and a high maturation, even in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Acute nontraumatic myelopathies of childhood include inflammatory, infectious, and vascular etiologies. Inflammatory immune-mediated disorders of the spinal cord can be categorized as idiopathic isolated transverse myelitis, neuromyelitis optica, and multiple sclerosis. In recent years, human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1, West Nile virus, enterovirus-71, and Lyme disease have been increasingly recognized as infectious etiologies of myelopathy, and poliomyelitis remains an important etiology in world regions where vaccination programs have not been universally available. Vascular etiologies include vasculopathies (systemic lupus erythematosus, small vessel primary angiitis of the central nervous system), arteriovenous malformations, and spinal cord infarction (fibrocartilaginous embolism, diffuse hypoxic ischemia-mediated infarction). Vascular myelopathies are less common than inflammatory and infectious myelopathies, but are more likely to lead to devastating clinical deficits. Current therapeutic strategies include acute anti-inflammatory treatment and rehabilitation. Stem cell transplantation, nerve graft implantation, and stimulation of endogenous repair mechanisms represent promising strategies for spinal cord repair.

Enoximone, a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, has positive inotropic and vasodilating actions. To evaluate specific effects of this drug on the systemic and pulmonary vascular bed, we administered enoximone as a 10-minute intravenous bolus at two different doses of 2 and 3 mg/kg of body weight, at different days, to five Holstein calves with a Jarvik 7-70 ml total artificial heart (Symbion, Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah). The calves were monitored for aortic pressure, right atrial pressure, pulmonary arterial pressure, and left atrial pressure. For each experiment cardiac output was maintained constant, and systemic and pulmonary vascular resistances were calculated at 0, 15, 30, and 60 minutes and every hour for 8 hours after infusion. Statistical analysis used analysis of variance and the paired t test with Bonferroni's correction. Data showed the following: (1) a marked systemic vasodilating action of enoximone at peak effect at 30 minutes with a 20% decrease in systemic vascular resistance from baseline value under constant cardiac output, returning progressively to normal values throughout the 8 hours; (2) a comparable effect for the two separate doses tested; (3) no specific action on the pulmonary vascular bed with "nonunidirectional" changes in pulmonary vascular resistance. This model was validated by the infusion of prostaglandin I2 in the same animals, at different days, which significantly decreased pulmonary vascular resistance of 50% at peak effect, under constant cardiac output. In summary, enoximone showed a proper systemic vasodilating effect with no specific action on the pulmonary vascular bed in an animal model of the total artificial heart. Decrease in pulmonary vascular resistances obtained with enoximone in clinical practice seems more related to the inotropic properties of the drug. Enoximone should not be administered in pulmonary hypertension, as suggested before.

Blood vessels are dynamic structures composed of cells and extracellular matrix (ECM), which are in continuous cross-talk with each other. Thus, cellular changes in phenotype or in proliferation/death rate affect ECM synthesis. In turn, ECM elements not only provide the structural framework for vascular cells, but they also modulate cellular function through specific receptors. These ECM-cell interactions, together with neurotransmitters, hormones and the mechanical forces imposed by the heart, modulate the structural organization of the vascular wall. It is not surprising that pathological states related to alterations in the nervous, humoral or haemodynamic environment-such as hypertension-are associated with vascular wall remodeling, which, in the end, is deleterious for cardiovascular function. However, the question remains whether these structural alterations are simply a consequence of the disease or if there are early cellular or ECM alterations-determined either genetically or by environmental factors-that can predispose to vascular remodeling independent of hypertension. Elastic fibres might be key elements in the pathophysiology of hypertensive vascular remodeling. In addition to the well known effects of hypertension on elastic fibre fatigue and accelerated degradation, leading to loss of arterial wall resilience, recent investigations have highlighted new roles for individual components of elastic fibres and their degradation products. These elements can act as signal transducers and regulate cellular proliferation, migration, phenotype, and ECM degradation. In this paper, we review current knowledge regarding components of elastic fibres and discuss their possible pathomechanistic associations with vascular structural abnormalities and with hypertension development or progression.

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) metabolizes heme to generate carbon monoxide (CO), biliverdin, and iron. Biliverdin is subsequently metabolized to bilirubin by biliverdin reductase. HO-1 has recently emerged as a promising therapeutic target in the treatment of vascular disease. Pharmacological induction or gene transfer of HO-1 ameliorates vascular dysfunction in animal models of atherosclerosis, post-angioplasty restenosis, vein graft stenosis, thrombosis, myocardial infarction, and hypertension, while inhibition of HO-1 activity or gene deletion exacerbates these disorders. The vasoprotection afforded by HO-1 is largely attributable to its end products: CO and the bile pigments, biliverdin and bilirubin. These end products exert potent anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-apoptotic, and anti-thrombotic actions. In addition, CO and bile pigments act to preserve vascular homeostasis at sites of arterial injury by influencing the proliferation, migration, and adhesion of vascular smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, endothelial progenitor cells, or leukocytes. Several strategies are currently being developed to target HO-1 in vascular disease. Pharmacological induction of HO-1 by heme derivatives, dietary antioxidants, or currently available drugs, is a promising near-term approach, while HO-1 gene delivery is a long-term therapeutic goal. Direct administration of CO via inhalation or through the use of CO-releasing molecules and/or CO-sensitizing agents provides an attractive alternative approach in targeting HO-1. Furthermore, delivery of bile pigments, either alone or in combination with CO, presents another avenue for protecting against vascular disease. Since HO-1 and its products are potentially toxic, a major challenge will be to devise clinically effective therapeutic modalities that target HO-1 without causing any adverse effects.

VESsel GENeration (VESGEN) Analysis is an automated software that maps and quantifies effects of vascular regulators on vascular morphology by analyzing important vessel parameters. Quantification parameters include vessel diameter, length, branch points, density, and fractal dimension. For vascular trees, measurements are reported as dependent functions of vessel branching generation. VESGEN maps and quantifies vascular morphological events according to fractal-based vascular branching generation. It also relies on careful imaging of branching and networked vascular form. It was developed as a plug-in for ImageJ (National Institutes of Health, USA). VESGEN uses image-processing concepts of 8-neighbor pixel connectivity, skeleton, and distance map to analyze 2D, black-and-white (binary) images of vascular trees, networks, and tree-network composites. VESGEN maps typically 5 to 12 (or more) generations of vascular branching, starting from a single parent vessel. These generations are tracked and measured for critical vascular parameters that include vessel diameter, length, density and number, and tortuosity per branching generation. The effects of vascular therapeutics and regulators on vascular morphology and branching tested in human clinical or laboratory animal experimental studies are quantified by comparing vascular parameters with control groups. VESGEN provides a user interface to both guide and allow control over the users vascular analysis process. An option is provided to select a morphological tissue type of vascular trees, network or tree-network composites, which determines the general collections of algorithms, intermediate images, and output images and measurements that will be produced.

Full Text Available Abstract Background A wide range of research areas in bioinformatics, molecular biology and medicinal chemistry require precise chemical structure information about molecules and reactions, e.g. drug design, ligand docking, metabolic network reconstruction, and systems biology. Most available databases, however, treat chemical structures more as illustrations than as a datafield in its own right. Lack of chemical accuracy impedes progress in the areas mentioned above. We present a database of metabolites called BioMeta that augments the existing pathway databases by explicitly assessing the validity, correctness, and completeness of chemical structure and reaction information. Description The main bulk of the data in BioMeta were obtained from the KEGG Ligand database. We developed a tool for chemical structure validation which assesses the chemical validity and stereochemical completeness of a molecule description. The validation tool was used to examine the compounds in BioMeta, showing that a relatively small number of compounds had an incorrect constitution (connectivity only, not considering stereochemistry and that a considerable number (about one third had incomplete or even incorrect stereochemistry. We made a large effort to correct the errors and to complete the structural descriptions. A total of 1468 structures were corrected and/or completed. We also established the reaction balance of the reactions in BioMeta and corrected 55% of the unbalanced (stoichiometrically incorrect reactions in an automatic procedure. The BioMeta database was implemented in PostgreSQL and provided with a web-based interface. Conclusion We demonstrate that the validation of metabolite structures and reactions is a feasible and worthwhile undertaking, and that the validation results can be used to trigger corrections and improvements to BioMeta, our metabolite database. BioMeta provides some tools for rational drug design, reaction searches, and

... this process shall be corrected according to this section. (b) Who may correct. Only official personnel.... According to this section and the instructions, corrected certificates shall show (i) the terms “Corrected... that has been superseded by another certificate or on the basis of a subsequent analysis for...

The creation of a functional blood supply from the normal tissue vasculature via the process of angiogenesis is critical for the continued growth and development of solid tumours. This importance has led to the concept of targeting the tumour vasculature as a therapeutic strategy, and two major...... types of vascular targeting agents (VTAs) have developed; those that inhibit the angiogenic process-angiogenesis inhibiting agents (AIAs)-and those that specifically damage the already established neovasculature-vascular disrupting agents (VDAs). The tumour vasculature also plays a critical role...

BACKGROUND: Identifying patients with recent stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) at high risk of major vascular events (MVEs; stroke, myocardial infarction, or vascular death) may help optimize the intensity of secondary preventive interventions. We evaluated the relationships between...... the baseline Framingham Coronary Risk Score (FCRS) and a novel risk prediction model and with the occurrence of MVEs after stroke or TIA in subjects enrolled in the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Level (SPARCL) trial. METHODS: Data from the 4731 subjects enrolled in the SPARCL study...

Studies of vascular responses are usually performed on isolated vessels or on single vessels in vivo. This allows for precise measurements of diameter or blood flow. However, dynamical responses of the whole microvascular network are difficult to access experimentally. We suggest to use full......-field laser speckle imaging to evaluate vascular responses of the retinal network. Image segmentation and vessel recognition algorithms together with response mapping allow us to analyze diameter changes and blood flow responses in the intact retinal network upon systemic administration of the vasoconstrictor...

Remarkable advances and changes in the landscape of neurovascular disease have occurred recently. Concurrently, a paradigm shift in training and resident education is underway. This crossroad of unique opportunities and pressures necessitates creative change in the training of future vascular neurosurgeons to allow incorporation of surgical advances, new technology, and supplementary treatment modalities in a setting of reduced work hours and increased public scrutiny. This article discusses the changing landscape in neurovascular disease treatment, followed by the recent changes in resident training, and concludes with our view of the future of training in vascular neurosurgery.

The quality of captured samples is a critical aspect in biometric systems. In this paper we present a quality estimation algorithm for vascular images, which uses global and local features based on a Grey Level Co-Occurrence Matrix (GLCM) and optionally available metadata. An evaluation of the al......The quality of captured samples is a critical aspect in biometric systems. In this paper we present a quality estimation algorithm for vascular images, which uses global and local features based on a Grey Level Co-Occurrence Matrix (GLCM) and optionally available metadata. An evaluation...

Blood flow and filtration of water across the vascular bed in human forearm muscles were studied at rest and during graded exercise with a hand ergometer. Blood flow was measured by dye dilution and water filtration was determined after injection of hyperoncotic albumin solution (23%) in the brac......Blood flow and filtration of water across the vascular bed in human forearm muscles were studied at rest and during graded exercise with a hand ergometer. Blood flow was measured by dye dilution and water filtration was determined after injection of hyperoncotic albumin solution (23...

Hyperglycemia is an important causative factor in the development of micro- and macrovascular complications in diabetes. It activates polyol pathway and protein kinase C, which result in the increase in insulin resistance and oxidative stress in vascular tissues, leading to the accelerated atherosclerosis. Increased hematocrit and blood viscosity are observed in diabetes, which contribute to an increased risk of thrombosis and accelerated vasculopathy. Blood glucose control as well as blood pressure control are important in the prevention of diabetic vascular complications as evidenced by large-scale interventional studies.

Synthetic small diameter vascular grafts have a high failure rate, and endothelialization is critical for preventing thrombosis and graft occlusion. A promising approach is in situ tissue engineering, whereby an acellular scaffold is implanted and provides stimulatory cues to guide the in situ remodeling into a functional blood vessel. An ideal scaffold should have sufficient binding sites for biomolecule immobilization and a mechanical property similar to native tissue. Here we developed a novel method to blend low molecular weight (LMW) elastic polymer during electrospinning process to increase conjugation sites and to improve the mechanical property of vascular grafts. LMW elastic polymer improved the elasticity of the scaffolds, and significantly increased the amount of heparin conjugated to the micro/nanofibrous scaffolds, which in turn increased the loading capacity of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and prolonged the release of VEGF. Vascular grafts were implanted into the carotid artery of rats to evaluate the in vivo performance. VEGF treatment significantly enhanced endothelium formation and the overall patency of vascular grafts. Heparin coating also increased cell infiltration into the electrospun grafts, thus increasing the production of collagen and elastin within the graft wall. This work demonstrates that LMW elastic polymer blending is an approach to engineer the mechanical and biological property of micro/nanofibrous vascular grafts for in situ vascular tissue engineering.

Endotoxin increases pulmonary vascular permeability consistently in some species but fails to reliably cause injury in the dog. We wondered whether this phenomenon depended on the method of injury assessment, as others have relied on edema measurement; we quantified injury by monitoring the rate of extravascular protein accumulation. /sup 113m/In-labeled protein and /sup 99m/Tc-labeled erythrocytes were injected into anesthetized dogs and monitored by an externally placed lung probe. A protein leak index, the rate of extravascular protein accumulation, was derived from the rate of increase in lung protein counts corrected for changes in intravascular protein activity. After administration of Salmonella enteriditis endotoxin (4 micrograms/kg), the protein leak index was elevated 2.5-fold (41.1 +/- 4.6 X 10(-4) min-1) compared with control (16.0 +/- 2.8 X 10(-4) min-1). In contrast, wet-to-dry weight ratios failed to increase after endotoxin (4.6 +/- 0.8 vs. control values of 4.2 +/- 0.5 g/g dry bloodless lung). However, we observed that endotoxin increased lung dry weight (per unit body weight), which may have attenuated the change in wet-to-dry weight ratios. To determine whether low microvascular pressures following endotoxin attenuated edema formation, we increased pulmonary arterial wedge pressures in five dogs by saline infusion, which caused an increase in wet-to-dry weight ratios following endotoxin but no change in the five controls. We conclude that low dose endotoxin causes pulmonary vascular protein leak in the dog while edema formation is minimal or absent.

Full Text Available The application of the central venous catheter (CVC as a temporary orpermanent vascular approach to hemodialysis has been practiced in our Center since1994. So far 30 (12,6% patients have been thus treated. The primary application hasbeen done in 25 patients, namely: the first making of the A V fistula has been done in16, the ABT in 6, while the vascular approach correction in 3 patients. The secondaryapplication has been done in 5 patients. The infection episode incidence concerningthe CVC application is 20 infections per 1.000 patients. This is the upper limitaccording to the data given in the literature (5, rang 3-20. The average duration of thecatheter is 21 + - 13 days (rang 1-47. Two-volume catheters have been used for ajugular approach though less often for a femoral one. The unsuccessful placing due tothe catheter thrombosis has occurred in 4 patients, the catheter drop-out and itsreplacing have been done in 2 patients, while no replacement has happened in onečaše. The treatment has been stopped in one patient. Tn four patients the cerebrovascularinsult has happened after placing the CVC. The mortality rate is 26,6%,that is, K patients, namely: 4 due to cerebrovascular insult, one due to lung emboly,one due to heart weakness and one due to the sepsis from the V fistula. One patientdied at home for unknown reason. A high infection episode incidence rate is related toinadequate patients' placing so that their location in the rooms for intensive care is away of reducing it. It is necessary to provide for general aseptic procedure at work aswell as for betterment of the accompanying procedures (hemoculture, antibiograms,sterilization in order to maintain a safe catheter function.

Fourier ptychography (FP) is a recently proposed computational imaging technique for high space-bandwidth product imaging. In real setups such as endoscope and transmission electron microscope, the common sample motion largely degrades the FP reconstruction and limits its practicability. In this paper, we propose a novel FP reconstruction method to efficiently correct for unknown sample motion. Specifically, we adaptively update the sample's Fourier spectrum from low spatial-frequency regions towards high spatial-frequency ones, with an additional motion recovery and phase-offset compensation procedure for each sub-spectrum. Benefiting from the phase retrieval redundancy theory, the required large overlap between adjacent sub-spectra offers an accurate guide for successful motion recovery. Experimental results on both simulated data and real captured data show that the proposed method can correct for unknown sample motion with its standard deviation being up to 10% of the field-of-view scale. We have released...

Full Text Available The transmission of any data is always subject to corruption due to errors, but video transmission, because of its real time nature must deal with these errors without retransmission of the corrupted data. The error can be handled using forward error correction in the encoder or error concealment techniques in the decoder. This MPEG-2 compliant codec uses data hiding to transmit error correction information and several error concealment techniques in the decoder. The decoder resynchronizes more quickly with fewer errors than traditional resynchronization techniques. It also allows for perfect recovery of differentially encoded DCT-DC components and motion vectors. This provides for a much higher quality picture in an error-prone environment while creating an almost imperceptible degradation of the picture in an error-free environment.

MR technology is one of the best and most reliable ways of studying the brain. Its main drawback is the so-called intensity inhomogeneity or bias field which impairs the visual inspection and the medical proceedings for diagnosis and strongly affects the quantitative image analysis. Noise is yet another artifact in medical images. In order to accurately and effectively restore the original signal, reference is hereof made to filtering, bias correction and quantitative analysis of correction. In this report, two denoising algorithms are used; (i) Basis rotation fields of experts (BRFoE) and (ii) Anisotropic Diffusion (when Gaussian noise, the Perona-Malik and Tukey's biweight functions and the standard deviation of the noise of the input image are considered).

Determining the quality of a proximity effect correction (PEC) is often done via 1-dimensional measurements such as: CD deviations from target, corner rounding, or line-end shortening. An alternative approach would compare the entire perimeter of the exposed shape and its original design. Unfortunately, this is not a viable solution as there is a practical limit to the number of metrology measurements that can be done in a reasonable amount of time. In this paper we make use of simulated results and introduce a method which may be considered complementary to the standard way of PEC qualification. It compares simulated contours with the target layout via a Boolean XOR operation with the area of the XOR differences providing a direct measure of how close a corrected layout approximates the target.

A brief history of the development of direct aberration correction in electron microscopy is outlined starting from the famous Scherzer theorem established in 1936. Aberration correction is the long story of many seemingly fruitless efforts to improve the resolution of electron microscopes by compensating for the unavoidable resolution-limiting aberrations of round electron lenses over a period of 50 years. The successful breakthrough, in 1997, can be considered as a quantum step in electron microscopy because it provides genuine atomic resolution approaching the size of the radius of the hydrogen atom. The additional realization of monochromators, aberration-free imaging energy filters and spectrometers has been leading to a new generation of analytical electron microscopes providing elemental and electronic information about the object on an atomic scale.

Introduction This study aimed to describe national peripheral vascular disease (PVD) risk and health burden and vascular care capacity in Ghana. The gap between PVD burden and vascular care capacity in a low- and middle-income country (LMIC) is defined and capacity improvement priorities identified. Methods Data to estimate PVD risk factor burden were obtained from: i) World Health Organization’s Study on Global Ageing and Health (SAGE), Ghana; and ii) Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation Global Burden of Disease database (IHME GBD). In addition, a novel nationwide assessment of vascular care capacity was performed, with 20 vascular care items assessed at 40 hospitals in Ghana. Factors contributing to specific item deficiency were also described. Results From the SAGE database, there were 4,305 respondents aged at least 50 years with data to estimate PVD risk. Out of these 57% were at moderate to high PVD risk with ≥3 risk factors, thus giving 1,654,557 persons when extrapolated nationally. Using IHME GBD data, the estimated disability-adjusted life years incurred from PVD increased 5-fold from 1990 to 2010 (1.3 to 3.2 per 100,000 persons, respectively). Vascular care capacity assessment demonstrated marked deficiencies in items for diagnosis, perioperative and vascular surgical care. Deficiencies were most often due to absence of equipment, lack of training and technology breakage. Conclusion Risk factor reduction and management as well as optimization of current resources are paramount to avoid the large burden of peripheral vascular disease falling on healthcare systems in low- and middle-income countries that are not well equipped to handle vascular surgical care, and for which rapid development of such capacity would be difficult and expensive. PMID:26560502

Vascular tissues, xylem and phloem, are differentiated from meristematic cells, procambium, and vascular cambium. Auxin and cytokinin have been considered essential for vascular tissue differentiation; this is supported by recent molecular and genetic analyses. Xylogenesis has long been used as a model for study of cell differentiation, and many genes involved in late stages of tracheary element formation have been characterized. A number of mutants affecting vascular differentiation and pattern formation have been isolated in Arabidopsis. Studies of some of these mutants have suggested that vascular tissue organization within the bundles and vascular pattern formation at the organ level are regulated by positional information.

Vascular plugs are ideally suited to close extra-cardiac, high flowing vascular communications. The family of vascular plugs has expanded. Vascular plugs in general have a lower profile and the newer variants can be delivered even through a diagnostic catheter. These features make them versatile and easy to use. The Amplatzer vascular plugs are also used for closing intracardiac defects including coronary arterio-venous fistula and paravalvular leakage in an off-label fashion. In this review, the features of currently available vascular plugs are reviewed along with tips and tricks of using them in the cardiac catheterization laboratory.

The problem of the comological constant appears in a new light in Unimodular Gravity. In particular, the zero momentum piece of the potential (that is, the constant piece independent of the matter fields) does not automatically produce a cosmological constant proportional to it. The aim of this paper is to give some details on a calculation showing that quantum corrections do not renormalize the classical value of this observable.

A quick review on the analytical aspects of holographic superconductors (HSCs) with Weyl corrections has been presented. Mainly, we focus on matching method and variational approaches. Different types of such HSC have been investigated — s-wave, p-wave and Stúckelberg ones. We also review the fundamental construction of a p-wave type, in which the non-Abelian gauge field is coupled to the Weyl tensor. The results are compared from numerics to analytical results.

The article reviews the history of orthognathic surgery from the middle of the last century up to the present. Initially, mandibular osteotomies were only performed in cases of severe malformations. But during the last century a precise and standardized procedure for correction of the mandible was established. Multiple modifications allowed control of small fragments, functionally stable osteosynthesis, and finally a precise positioning of the condyle. In 1955 Obwegeser and Trauner introduced the sagittal split osteotomy by an intraoral approach. It was the final breakthrough for orthognathic surgery as a standard treatment for corrections of the mandible. Surgery of the maxilla dates back to the nineteenth century. B. von Langenbeck from Berlin is said to have performed the first Le Fort I osteotomy in 1859. After minor changes, Wassmund corrected a posttraumatic malocclusion by a Le Fort I osteotomy in 1927. But it was Axhausen who risked the total mobilization of the maxilla in 1934. By additional modifications and further refinements, Obwegeser paved the way for this approach to become a standard procedure in maxillofacial surgery. Tessier mobilized the whole midface by a Le Fort III osteotomy and showed new perspectives in the correction of severe malformations of the facial bones, creating the basis of modern craniofacial surgery. While the last 150 years were distinguished by the creation and standardization of surgical methods, the present focus lies on precise treatment planning and the consideration of functional aspects of the whole stomatognathic system. To date, 3D visualization by CT scans, stereolithographic models, and computer-aided treatment planning and simulation allow surgery of complex cases and accurate predictions of soft tissue changes.

The original text for the article 'Prizes aplenty in Krakow' in Bulletin 30-31 assigned the award of the EPS HEPP Young Physicist Prize to Maurizio Pierini. In fact he shared the prize with Niki Saoulidou of Fermilab, who was rewarded for her contribution to neutrino physics, as the article now correctly indicates. We apologise for not having named Niki Saoulidou in the original article.